The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
FOTHER
Etymology
Noun
fother (countable and uncountable, plural fothers)
(obsolete) A wagonload.
(obsolete) A load of any sort.
(historical) A load: various English units of weight or volume based upon standardized cartloads of certain commodities.
Synonyms
• (unspecific amount): See cartload
• (specific amount): See load
Hyponyms
• (cartload): See load
Verb
fother (third-person singular simple present fothers, present participle fothering, simple past and past participle fothered)
(dialect) To feed animals (with fother).
(dated, nautical) To stop a leak with oakum or old rope (often by drawing a sail under the hull).
Anagrams
• forthe, therof
Source: Wiktionary
Foth"er, n. Etym: [OE. fother, foder, AS. fo a cartload; akin to G. fuder a cartload, a unit of measure, OHG. fuodar, D. voeder, and perh. to E. fathom, or cf. Skr. patra vessel, dish. Cf. Fodder a fother.]
1. A wagonload; a load of any sort. [Obs.] Of dung full many a fother. Chaucer.
2. See Fodder, a unit of weight.
Foth"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fothered; p. pr. & vb. n. Fothering.] Etym: [Cf. Fodder food, and G. fĂĽttern, futtern, to cover within or without, to line. *75.]
Definition: To stop (a leak in a ship at sea) by drawing under its bottom a thrummed sail, so that the pressure of the water may force it into the crack. Totten.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
23 January 2025
LEFT
(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; “my left hand”; “left center field”; “the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream”
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