A container for liquids, typically made of glass or plastic. Also, a device fitted with a teat for giving milk (or occasionally other drinks) to infants and very young animals. The term is sometimes applied to devices used to preserve solids in liquid, such as fruit preserved in syrup. In cockney slang, the word is also used to refer to nerve or courage: e.g., if someone loses their bottle, they are said to have lost their arse. The phrase has also been used figuratively, to mean that a person has too much anger or frustration bottled up inside them.
A bottle episode is an episode of a television show that is cheaper to produce than a normal one, for various reasons. This is usually because it has fewer people on-camera, was filmed entirely on one prebuilt (“standing”) set, doesn’t feature a lot of extras, or requires less extensive sets. In addition, it is often a departure from the usual storyline of the show and may include significant CGI or other visual effects. Depending on how strict the definition is, it may also be called a suitcase or frog-in-a-bottle episode.
Historically, bottles were often embossed with names or designs, particularly on the lip and collar of the bottle’s finish. This was often done using plate molds, where a specialized plate with the desired design was screwed into place in the middle of an empty glass bottle mold. The impressions left by the screws would then be visible on the finished bottle. Earlier bottle embossing was usually engraved directly into the glass surface, either with punches or with engraving tools.
Today, bottle caps are often embossed with logos or other images and can be made in several different materials, such as metal, molded plastic, glass, and wood. Caps are usually tin- or lead-free and dishwasher-safe, and can be sealed with an adhesive label or in-moulded, where the label is built into the bottle during the molding process.
Bottles are also commonly used to store and transport many types of liquid, including water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicines, shampoo, and even wine. They can be very large or very small, and are available in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and finishes. Bottles are commonly made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), copolyester, or polypropylene, and may be capped with a cork or other closure.
In the streaming era, it has become common for series to be written and filmed as whole seasons at once. This makes the episodes of a season look very similar to each other, and it can be harder for an individual episode to stand out from the pack. This has led to the term bottle episode being thrown around to describe any unusual, standalone, departure, or otherwise distinct episode of a TV show that doesn’t fit into a more standard formula. Some examples of bottle episodes include episodes that are a longer length, involve lots of CGI, feature multiple guest stars who don’t have full-season contracts, require a large amount of stunt work, or have other expensive add-ons.