top-heavy with drink

US, late 19th century. Due to staggering walk when drunk; compare brick in one's hat.

• "To have a brick in one’s hat, verb. phr. (American).—To be top-heavy with drink. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed."
• "Imagine yourself about to embark on the New York Limited Express for the eastern metropolis; the train made up of ten Pullman passenger, two baggage and one express cars; with an engineer top-heavy with drink, a conductor braced up to a degree of conviviality, the train-dispatchers along the line overworked and sleepy."
• "Her sister, Sadie, on the other hand, is top-heavy with drink, drugs, and a serious overdose of eyeshadow. She has hopes of following — or staggering — in the footsteps of her sister."
• "…including the climactic moment at the conclusion of the recording when George stepped forward (in the tradition of La Scala, Milan) to receive a bouquet but fell into the audience and was too top-heavy with drink to get back on-stage."

• drunk