A bottle is a container for liquids, typically made of glass or plastic. The word can also refer to the contents of the bottle, as in “he drank half a bottle of whiskey.” Bottle can also mean a bottle of booze or any other liquid; it may also be used in an informal sense to describe someone’s spirit or attitude.
A nipple is a portion of the bottle that rests on the base. The nipple can be fixed or flexible and the shape of the nipple can vary according to the type of bottle. When bottles are made from sheet glass, the nipple is usually a round cylinder with a narrow neck. Bottles with a wide neck, like soft drink containers, are often shaped more like a sphere.
During the manufacturing process, bottles are filled with hot, viscous liquid, which is then cooled and solidified in a mold to form the bottle shape. The top is then capped and the bottle is finished off with a label. Labels can be applied with adhesive or, more commonly, in-mould, meaning the label is built into the bottle during molding. Bottles are also sometimes decorated, such as with an embossed logo or pattern.
Many TV shows have a “bottle episode” or “button episode.” These episodes are filmed on one prebuilt set, have a small cast, and are cheaper and faster to produce than normal episodes. The term has been thrown around by fans and online outlets such as TV Tropes, although reasonable people can disagree on what exactly makes an episode a bottle episode.
For example, Breaking Bad’s season-three episode “Fly” was a bottle episode; it was filmed on a limited budget and focused on two characters stuck in a small space. The story, however, was much more complex than the simple set and budget would suggest. This underlying financial pressure can create a tension in the script that’s not present when the production is more relaxed.
The term bottle can also be used to refer to a person’s spirit or attitude, as in “She has the bottle for a fight” or “He has the guts for it.” The latter phrase is particularly popular among sports fans, who frequently use it to describe a team’s determination or bravery.
Bottles can be made from a variety of materials, but most common is soda-lime glass, which contains 6 percent limestone (CaCO3) and 4 percent magnesia (MgCO3) and 2 percent alumina (Al2O3). Other elements are sometimes added, but the composition of soda-lime glass is the most stable and resistant to environmental stressors. Other glass types, including crystal and borosilicate, are less stable and more likely to crack or shatter than soda-lime glass. These types of bottles are typically used for pharmaceutical and beverage packaging. Glass is also a component of fiber optic cables and high-tech electronics. This is due to the unique properties of glass, which make it a valuable material for technological applications. For example, high-tech companies such as Apple are developing products that rely on glass, and Penn State scientists are helping develop new uses for this versatile material.
