# yardarm it

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/yardarm-it
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To begin to drink alcohol once it is late enough in the day.

## Examples

- It is five o'clock, so it is time to yardarm it.
- After a long week of hard work, they decided to yardarm it with a cold beer on the porch.
- Once the sun dipped below the horizon, the weary travelers felt it was finally appropriate to yardarm it and share a bottle of wine.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.