Sentence:  In moderate doses , alcohol narcotizes the appestat and enhances appetite ( the original reason for the cocktail ) ; but because liquor has a high caloric value - 100 calories per oz. - the heavy drinker <WSD>is</WSD> seldom hungry . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)