Coffee: definitions and examples of coffee

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American Heritage Dictionary (5)

noun Any of various tropical African shrubs or trees of the genus Coffea, especially C. arabica, widely cultivated in the tropics for their seeds that are dried, roasted, and ground to prepare a stimulating aromatic drink.
noun The beanlike seeds of this plant, enclosed within a pulpy fruit.
noun The beverage prepared from the seeds of this plant.

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Century Dictionary (19)

The berry of trees belonging to the genus Coffea, natural order Rubiaceæ. Several species, but principally C. Arabica, produce the coffee of commerce. It is a native of Arabia and Abyssinia, but is now extensively cultivated throughout tropical countries. It will grow to the height of 16 or 18 feet, but is seldom permitted to exceed 8 or 9 feet, for the convenience of gathering the fruit. The stem is upright, and covered with a light-brown bark; the branches are horizontal and opposite. The flowers grow in clusters at the bases of the leaves, are pure white, and of an agreeable odor. The fruit is a small, red, fleshy berry, having the size and appearance of a small cherry. Each berry contains two seeds, commonly called coffee-beans or coffee-nibs. When ripe the berries are gathered, and the outer pulp and the parchment-like covering of the seeds arc removed. The Mocha coffee from Yemen in Arabia is reputed the best; but the principal supplies are now obtained from Ceylon, Java, the WestIndies, Brazil, and Central America. The Liberian coffee-tree, C. Liberica, of western tropical Africa, has recently been introduced into cultivation. It grows to a greater size and yields a much larger berry than C. Arabica, and thrives in low damp regions where the latter will not flourish. What is known as the male coffee-berry is simply a result of the occasional coalescence of the two seeds of the fruit into one, and differs in no other respect from the ordinary berry. The name cherry-coffee is given to the coffee-berry as it comes from the tree, before the pulp has been removed or the seeds have been dried.
A drink made from the seeds of the coffee-tree, by infusion or decoction. Before being used the seeds are roasted, and then ground in a coffee-mill, or, as in the East, pounded. The beverage is best when made with coffee-beans freshly roasted and ground. Coffee acts as a slight stimulant, promoting cheerfulness and removing languor; but in some cases it induces sleeplessness and nervous tremblings. The use of it originated in Abyssinia, passed to Arabia several centuries later, and is said to have been made known in Europe by A. Rauwolf, a German physician, whose travels appeared in 1573. And sip of a drink called Coffa in little china dishes, as hot as they can suffer it. Sandys, Travailes, p. 52.
A light meal resembling afternoon tea, at which coffee is served.

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There was a tension headache in there somewhere, but it hadn't wormed to the surface yet. — The Legacy of Heorot
They would have to arrange for transportation of the resacked coffee from the plantation, as well as for storage during the time the coffee was in their care. — Kahawa
And the feeling that I may not be able to get my coffee when I want my coffee is making me twitch. — The Coming of Coachella (and stuff)
"gedunked" in coffee -- and by the 1930s it was obviously well established in the Navy to refer to any concoction involving ice cream, and especially to establishments dispensing it. — VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XVIII No 4
“I don’t know why he insisted I be there when the coffee is shipped. — Kahawa

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Alteration (influenced by Italian caffè, from Turkish) of Ottoman Turkish qahveh, from Arabic qahwa; see qhw in Semitic roots.

coffee

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