n. the genus comprising the coffee trees.
n. [ Turk. qahveh, Ar. qahuah wine, coffee, a decoction of berries. Cf. Café. ]
☞ There are several species of the coffee tree, as, Coffea Arabica, Coffea canephora, Coffea occidentalis, and Coffea Liberica. The white, fragrant flowers grow in clusters at the root of the leaves, and the fruit is a red or purple cherrylike drupe, with sweet pulp, usually containing two pyrenes, commercially called “beans” or “berries”. [ 1913 Webster ]
They have in Turkey a drink called coffee. . . . This drink comforteth the brain and heart, and helpeth digestion. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ The use of coffee is said to have been introduced into England about 1650, when coffeehouses were opened in Oxford and London. [ 1913 Webster ]
Coffee bug (Zool.),
Coffee rat (Zool.)
n. an evergreen shrub of Western U.S. (Rhamnus californicus), bearing small red or black fruits; -- called also the
n. a cake or sweet bread usually glazed after baking, and having added nuts and fruits; it is often served with coffee.
n. A house of entertainment, where guests are supplied with coffee and other refreshments, and where men meet for conversation. [ 1913 Webster ]
The coffeehouse must not be dismissed with a cursory mention. It might indeed, at that time, have been not improperly called a most important political institution. . . . The coffeehouses were the chief organs through which the public opinion of the metropolis vented itself. . . . Every man of the upper or middle class went daily to his coffeehouse to learn the news and discuss it. Every coffeehouse had one or more orators, to whose eloquence the crowd listened with admiration, and who soon became what the journalists of our own time have been called -- a fourth estate of the realm. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. One who keeps a coffeehouse. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A public room where coffee and other refreshments may be obtained. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OF. cofre, F. coffre, L. cophinus basket, fr. Gr. &unr_;. Cf. Coffin, n. ]
In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
He would discharge it without any burden to the queen's coffers, for honor sake. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
Hold, here is half my coffer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Coffer dam. (Engin.)
Coffer fish. (Zool.)
v. t.
n. A water-tight inclosure, as of piles packed with clay, from which the water is pumped to expose the bottom (of a river, etc.) and permit the laying of foundations, building of piers, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. One who keeps treasures in a coffer. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Masonry) Rubblework faced with stone. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE., a basket, receptacle, OF. cofin, fr. L. cophinus. See Coffer, n. ]
They embalmed him [ Joseph ], and he was put in a coffin. Gen. 1. 26. [ 1913 Webster ]
Of the paste a coffin I will rear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Coffin bone,
Coffin joint,
v. t.
Would'st thou have laughed, had I come coffined home? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Devotion is not coffined in a cell. John Hall (1646). [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Having no coffin. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Ar. kafala caravan. ] A gang of negro slaves being driven to market. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To put in a coffin. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ From Pincoff, an English manufacturer. ] A commercial preparation of garancin, yielding fine violet tints. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To treat or address with derision; to assail scornfully; to mock at. [ 1913 Webster ]
To scoff religion is ridiculously proud and immodest. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. scof; akin to OFries. schof, OHG. scoph, Icel. skaup, and perh. to E. shove. ]
With scoffs, and scorns, and contumelious taunts. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
The scoff of withered age and beardless youth. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i.
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]
God's better gift they scoff at and refuse. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. One who scoffs. 2 Pet. iii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The act of scoffing; scoffing conduct; mockery. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In a scoffing manner. Broome. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + coffle. ] To release from a coffle. [ 1913 Webster ]