Meanings
- idiomaticuncountableA final drink before one leaves.
[...] and the rebuilding of Birmingham New Street with its Taurus Bar ("where one for the road - the railroad - can be taken with impunity").
2021 March 10, Greg Morse, “Telling the railway's story on film”, in RAIL, number 926, pages 44–451 more example
So I said, "Okay, Amy. But let's have one for the road." And I poured us each a hell of a big slug and gave her hers -and that's what did it- that one for the road. She got it down and passed out cold.
2021, Fredric Brown, One for the Road, Open Road Media, →ISBNSynonyms: 1FTR
- idiomaticuncountableA snack to consume while traveling.
"Cotton candy," he said. "I want the blue kind."[…]He opened it and took out a few bills and handed them to Joey. "Here," he said. "Get one for the road."
2011, David-Matthew Barnes, Accidents Never Happen, Bold Strokes Books, →ISBN2 more examples
She held out a box of doughnuts that sat open on the table. "Take one for the road." I grabbed a jelly-filled one, my favorite kind. "Thank you. Thank you so much." I walked to the bus stop, shoveling the doughnut into my mouth.
2018, Susin Nielsen, No Fixed Address, Tundra, →ISBN"It won't hurt us to take one for the road," Ernie whined. "With our compliments," Pancho said. He reached for two more ice creams and handed them to the villains.
2021, Terry Catasus Jennings, All for One, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 81
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA final drink before one leaves.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 最後一杯酒 /最后一杯酒
- 最後一杯酒 /最后一杯酒 (zuìhòu yī bēi jiǔ)a final drink before one leaves
Dutch afzakkertje
- afzakkertjea final drink before one leaves
Finnish yhdet vielä
- yhdet vieläa final drink before one leaves
French coup de l'étrier, un dernier pour la route
- coup de l'étriera final drink before one leaves
- un dernier pour la routea final drink before one leaves
Italian bicchiere della staffa
- bicchiere della staffaa final drink before one leaves
Japanese 最後の一杯
- 最後の一杯 (saigo no ippai)a final drink before one leaves
Korean 막잔, 마지막 한 잔
- 막잔 (makjan)a final drink before one leaves
- 마지막 한 잔 (majimak han jan)a final drink before one leaves
Polish rozchodniak, strzemienny
- rozchodniaka final drink before one leaves
- strzemiennya final drink before one leaves
Portuguese saideira, abaladiça
- saideiraa final drink before one leaves
- abaladiçaa final drink before one leaves
Russian на посошо́к, посошо́к
- на посошо́к (na posošók)a final drink before one leaves
- посошо́к (posošók)a final drink before one leaves
Scottish Gaelic deoch an dorais
- deoch an doraisa final drink before one leaves
Spanish caminera
- camineraa final drink before one leaves
Swedish färdknäpp
- färdknäppa final drink before one leaves
Ukrainian на ко́ня
- на ко́ня (na kónja)a final drink before one leaves
Cite this entry
one for the road. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20for%20the%20road
“one for the road.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20for%20the%20road. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “one for the road,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20for%20the%20road.
Source: one for the road on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.