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Also, hit the booze or sauce. Drink alcoholic beverages, especially a great deal, as in I don't know if it will be a problem, but he hits the bottle every weekend, or She hardly ever hits the booze, but when she does, watch out, or It doesn't show in her work, but she hits the sauce every night. These slangy expressions date from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
American Heritage Idioms
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Phrase(s): hit the bottle [and] hit the booze
Fig. Inf. to go on a drinking bout; to get drunk. • Jed’s hitting the bottle again. • He’s been hitting the booze for a week now.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs