Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
DAMPERS
Noun
dampers
plural of damper
Anagrams
• deramps
Source: Wiktionary
DAMPER
Damp"er, n.
Definition: That which damps or checks; as: (a) A valve or movable plate in the flue or other part of a stove, furnace, etc., used to check or regulate the draught of air. (b) A contrivance, as in a pianoforte, to deaden vibrations; or, as in other pieces of mechanism, to check some action at a particular time. Nor did Sabrina's presence seem to act as any damper at the modest little festivities. W. Black.
DAMP
Damp, n. Etym: [Akin to LG., D., & Dan. damp vapor, steam, fog, G. dampf, Icel. dampi, Sw. damb dust, and to MNG. dimpfen to smoke, imp. dampf.]
1. Moisture; humidity; fog; fogginess; vapor. Night . . . with black air Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom. Milton.
2. Dejection; depression; cloud of the mind. Even now, while thus I stand blest in thy presence, A secret damp of grief comes o'er my soul. Addison. It must have thrown a damp over your autumn excursion. J. D. Forbes.
3. (Mining)
Definition: A gaseous prodact, formed in coal mines, old wells, pints, etc. Choke damp, a damp consisting principally of carboniCarbonic acid, under Carbonic.
– Damp sheet, a curtain in a mine gallery to direct air currents and prevent accumulation of gas.
– Fire damp, a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; -- so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and brought into contact with flame.
Damp, a. [Compar. Damper; superl. Dampest.]
1. Being in a state between dry and wet; moderately wet; moist; humid. O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear. Dryden.
2. Dejected; depressed; sunk. [R.] All these and more came flocking, but with looks Downcast and damp. Milton.
Damp, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Damped; p. pr. & vb. n. Damping.] Etym: [OE. dampen to choke, suffocate. See Damp, n.]
1. To render damp; to moisten; to make humid, or moderately wet; to dampen; as, to damp cloth.
2. To put out, as fire; to depress or deject; to deaden; to cloud; to check or restrain, as action or vigor; to make dull; to weaken; to discourage. "To damp your tender hopes." Akenside. Usury dulls and damps all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring if it were not for this slug. Bacon. How many a day has been damped and darkened by an angry word! Sir J. Lubbock. The failure of his enterprise damped the spirit of the soldiers. Macaulay.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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19 June 2025
ROOTS
(noun) the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage; “his roots in Texas go back a long way”; “he went back to Sweden to search for his roots”; “his music has African roots”
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