alexander

alexander — noun

1. a trained method of standing, sitting, and moving where you let go of muscle ten

1.nounC2
Definition

a trained method of standing, sitting, and moving where you let go of muscle tension and unhelpful habits, used by actors, musicians, and people with back trouble to feel more at ease and perform better.

Example

After two years of back pain, Élise booked weekly Alexander lessons with a teacher in Brighton.

context: back pain treatment

The drama school in Taipei teaches the Alexander technique to first-year acting students every Monday.

collocation: the Alexander technique

Common collocations
  • the Alexander technique
  • Alexander lessons
  • Alexander teacher
  • study Alexander
  • practise Alexander
Synonyms
  • Feldenkrais

    another body-awareness method, focused more on slow guided movement than postural habit

  • postural therapy

    broader umbrella term covering many systems for fixing how you hold yourself

Grammar Patterns

the Alexander technique

Usage Note

Almost always written with a capital A and paired with 'technique', 'method', 'lessons', or 'work'. Named after F. M. Alexander, an Australian actor, so the word carries a proper-noun flavour even when it stands alone.

Common Mistakes

I do alexander every day to fix my posture.
I do the Alexander technique every day to fix my posture.
the noun usually needs 'technique' or 'method' beside it, and a capital A.
She teaches an alexander.
She teaches Alexander technique.
no indefinite article; treat it like a discipline name.

2. a sweet, creamy cocktail served cold, made by shaking gin or brandy with chocola

2.nounC1
Definition

a sweet, creamy cocktail served cold, made by shaking gin or brandy with chocolate liqueur and fresh cream, often dusted with grated nutmeg on top.

Example

Christopher ordered a brandy alexander after dinner and sipped it slowly by the fireplace.

collocation: brandy alexander

The bartender at the Manila hotel shook two alexanders and grated nutmeg over the foam.

plural countable use

Common collocations
  • a brandy alexander
  • a gin alexander
  • shake an alexander
  • order an alexander
Synonyms
  • grasshopper

    another sweet cream-based cocktail, but green and made with mint liqueur instead of chocolate

  • brandy alexander

    the specific brandy-based version, by far the most popular form

Grammar Patterns

a brandy alexander

an alexander

Usage Note

Usually qualified by the base spirit: a 'brandy alexander' (the most common version) or a 'gin alexander' (the original). Without the qualifier, listeners typically assume the brandy version.

Common Mistakes

I'd like alexander, please.
I'd like an alexander, please.
countable noun, needs an article.
A whisky alexander.
A brandy alexander.' or 'A gin alexander.
the recipe is fixed to gin or brandy; substituting whisky makes a different drink with a different name.

Word family

  • Alexandrian
    adjectiveC2
  • alexandrine
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All four are sweet, creamy after-dinner drinks, but they are not interchangeable. An 'alexander' (usually brandy alexander) gets its flavour from chocolate liqueur and fresh cream, served cold and dusted with nutmeg. A 'grasshopper' uses crème de menthe instead of chocolate, giving it a bright green colour and a fresh mint taste. A 'white russian' is built, not shaken, with vodka, coffee liqueur, and cream — coffee-forward rather than chocolate-forward. 'Eggnog' is not a cocktail in the same sense at all: it contains raw egg, milk, and warming spices, and shows up mostly at Christmas. So if a guest orders an alexander expecting an eggnog, you have a confused bartender. Order an alexander when you want chocolate; a grasshopper when you want mint.

alexander ↗grasshopperwhite russianeggnog

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • the Alexander technique
  • a brandy alexander
  • a gin alexander

Prepositions

  • of (the Alexander technique of posture)

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Both senses come from people named Alexander rather than from any general meaning of the name. The body method was developed in the 1890s by F. Matthias Alexander, an Australian Shakespearean actor who lost his voice on stage and worked out a way of releasing neck tension to recover it; his students kept his surname attached to the practice. The cocktail's origin is murkier — popular accounts trace it to a 1910s New York or London bartender who named it after a customer or a royal wedding, with the gin-based 'alexander' coming first and the now-dominant brandy version following. The personal name 'Alexander' itself descends from the Greek 'Aléxandros', meaning 'defender of men'.