In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
MANTLES
Noun
mantles
plural of mantle
Anagrams
• laments, manlets, mantels, mentals
Source: Wiktionary
MANTLE
Man"tle, n. Etym: [OE. mantel, OF. mantel, F. manteau, fr. L. mantellum, mantelum, a cloth, napkin, cloak, mantle (cf. mantele, mantile, towel, napkin); prob. from manus hand + the root of tela cloth. See Manual, Textile, and cf. Mandil, Mantel, Mantilla.]
1. A loose garment to be worn over other garments; an enveloping robe; a cloak. Hence, figuratively, a covering or concealing envelope. [The] children are clothed with mantles of satin. Bacon. The green mantle of the standing pool. Shak. Now Nature hangs her mantle green On every blooming tree. Burns.
2. (Her.)
Definition: Same as Mantling.
3. (Zoöl.) (a) The external fold, or folds, of the soft, exterior membrane of the body of a mollusk. It usually forms a cavity inclosing the gills. See Illusts. of Buccinum, and Byssus. (b) Any free, outer membrane. (c) The back of a bird together with the folded wings.
4. (Arch.)
Definition: A mantel. See Mantel.
5. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth. Raymond.
6. (Hydraulic Engin.)
Definition: A penstock for a water wheel.
Man"tle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mantled; p. pr. & vb. n. Mantling.]
Definition: To cover or envelop, as with a mantle; to cloak; to hide; to disguise. Shak.
Man"tle, v. i.
1. To unfold and spread out the wings, like a mantle; -- said of hawks. Also used figuratively. Ne is there hawk which mantleth on her perch. Spenser. Or tend his sparhawk mantling in her mew. Bp. Hall. My frail fancy fed with full delight. Doth bathe in bliss, and mantleth most at ease. Spenser.
2. To spread out; -- said of wings. The swan, with arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows. Milton.
3. To spread over the surface as a covering; to overspread; as, the scum mantled on the pool. Though mantled in her cheek the blood. Sir W. Scott.
4. To gather, assume, or take on, a covering, as froth, scum, etc. There is a sort of men whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond. Shak. Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm. Tennyson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
31 March 2025
IMPROVISED
(adjective) done or made using whatever is available; “crossed the river on improvised bridges”; “the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear”; “the rock served as a makeshift hammer”
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