Coffee has initially been a food – chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.
DAMPING
Verb
damping
present participle of damp
Noun
damping (plural dampings)
(mechanics) The reduction in the magnitude of oscillations by the dissipation of energy
(mechanics) The stabilization of a physical system by reducing oscillation
Source: Wiktionary
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
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
30 June 2025
BODILY
(adjective) affecting or characteristic of the body as opposed to the mind or spirit; “bodily needs”; “a corporal defect”; “corporeal suffering”; “a somatic symptom or somatic illness”
Coffee Trivia
