Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A hot drink made from salep or sassafras root, formerly used medicinally.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A drink prepared from sassafras-bark; sassafras-tea.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An aromatic drink prepared from sassafras bark and other ingredients, at one time much used in London.
- noun (Bot.) an Australian shrub (
Rhagodia hastata ) of the Goosefoot family, used for fodder.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun dated An
aromatic drink prepared fromsassafras bark and other ingredients, once popular inLondon ,England .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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In 1719, when coffee was 7s. a pound, came bocket, later known as saloop, a decoction of sassafras and sugar, that became such a favorite among those who could not afford tea or coffee, that there were many saloop stalls in the streets of London.
All About Coffee 1909
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Carters and waggoners were thirsty and hungry souls and the eating houses and saloop stalls were thronged.
Madame Flirt A Romance of 'The Beggar's Opera' Charles Edward Pearce
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When boiled, it is somewhat like saloop; the taste is not disagreeable, and we found means to make some good dishes with it.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16 Robert Kerr 1784
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Turning from the group which they had been paying attention to, they were suddenly attracted by a female purveyor for the stomach, who was serving out her tea, coffee, and saloop, from a boiling cauldron, and handing with due complaisance to her customers bread and butter, which was as eagerly swallowed and devoured by two dustmen, who appeared to relish their delicate meal with as much of appetite and gout, as the pampered palate of a City alderman would a plate of turtle.
missanthropist commented on the word saloop
A greasy~looking beverage, foermly sold on stalls at early morning, prepared from a powder made of the root of the Orchis masculu... Charles Lamb, in one of his papers, has left some account of this drinkable which he says was, of all preparations, the most grateful to the stomachs of young chimney~sweeps. The present generation has no knowledge of this drink, excepting that derived from books. The word 'slops' as applied to weak, warm drink, is very likely derived from the Cockney pronunciation of saloop.
J.C. Hotten, Slang Dictionary, 1887
February 4, 2009