In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
AMBITION
ambition, ambitiousness
(noun) a strong drive for success
ambition, aspiration, dream
(noun) a cherished desire; “his ambition is to own his own business”
ambition
(verb) have as one’s ambition
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
ambition (countable and uncountable, plural ambitions)
(uncountable, countable) Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or literary fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.
(countable) An object of an ardent desire.
A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.
(uncountable) A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.
(obsolete) The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.
Verb
ambition (third-person singular simple present ambitions, present participle ambitioning, simple past and past participle ambitioned)
To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
Source: Wiktionary
Am*bi"tion, n. Etym: [F. ambition, L. ambitio a going around, especially of candidates for office is Rome, to solicit votes (hence, desire for office or honorambire to go around. See Ambient, Issue.]
1. The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing. [Obs.] [I] used no ambition to commend my deeds. Milton.
2. An eager, and sometimes an inordinate, desire for preferment, honor, superiority, power, or the attainment of something. Cromwell, I charge thee, fling a way ambition: By that sin fell the angels. Shak. The pitiful ambition of possessing five or six thousand more acres. Burke.
Am*bi"tion, v. t. Etym: [Cf. F. ambitionner.]
Definition: To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet. [R.] Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage. Trumbull.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
9 March 2025
CLOG
(verb) fill to excess so that function is impaired; “Fear clogged her mind”; “The story was clogged with too many details”
Coffee Trivia
