In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
DEFER
submit, bow, defer, accede, give in
(verb) yield to another’s wish or opinion; “The government bowed to the military pressure”
postpone, prorogue, hold over, put over, table, shelve, set back, defer, remit, put off
(verb) hold back to a later time; “let’s postpone the exam”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)
(transitive) To delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.
(American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).
(intransitive) To delay, to wait.
Etymology 2
Verb
defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)
(legal, intransitive) To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.
To render, to offer.
Anagrams
• freed, refed
Source: Wiktionary
De*fer", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deferred; p. pr. & vb. n. Deferring.] Etym: [OE. differren, F. différer, fr. L. differre to delay, bear different ways; dis- + ferre to bear. See Bear to support, and cf. Differ, Defer to offer.]
Definition: To put off; to postpone to a future time; to delay the execution of; to delay; to withhold. Defer the spoil of the city until night. Shak. God . . . will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name. Milton.
De*fer", v. i.
Definition: To put off; to delay to act; to wait. Pius was able to defer and temporize at leisure. J. A. Symonds.
De*fer", v. t. Etym: [F. déférer to pay deference, to yield, to bring before a judge, fr. L. deferre to bring down; de- + ferre to bear. See Bear to support, and cf. Defer to delay, Delate.]
1. To render or offer. [Obs.] Worship deferred to the Virgin. Brevint.
2. To lay before; to submit in a respectful manner; to refer; -- with to. Hereupon the commissioners . . . deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland. Bacon.
De*fer", v. i.
Definition: To yield deference to the wishes of another; to submit to the opinion of another, or to authority; -- with to. The house, deferring to legal right, acquiesced. Bancroft.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
5 May 2025
UNEXPLOITED
(adjective) not developed, improved, exploited or used; “vast unexploited (or undeveloped) natural resources”; “taxes on undeveloped lots are low”
Coffee Trivia
