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.
QUALM
scruple, qualm, misgiving
(noun) uneasiness about the fitness of an action
queasiness, squeamishness, qualm
(noun) a mild state of nausea
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
qualm (plural qualms)
A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc. [from 16th c.]
A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness. [from 16th c.]
A prick of the conscience; a moral scruple, a pang of guilt. (Now often in negative constructions.) [from 17th c.]
(archaic, UK dialectal) Mortality; plague; pestilence.
(archaic, UK dialectal) A calamity or disaster.
Synonyms
• compunction
• misgiving
• scruple
• unease/uneasiness
• See apprehension
Verb
qualm (third-person singular simple present qualms, present participle qualming, simple past and past participle qualmed)
(intransitive) To have a sickly feeling.
Source: Wiktionary
Qualm, n. Etym: [AS. cwealm death, slaughter, pestilence, akin to OS. & OHG. qualm. See Quail to cower.]
1. Sickness; disease; pestilence; death. [Obs.] thousand slain and not of qualm ystorve [dead]. Chaucer.
2. A sudden attack of illness, faintness, or pain; an agony. " Qualms of heartsick agony." Milton.
3. Especially, a sudden sensation of nausea. For who, without a qualm, hath ever looked On holy garbage, though by Homer cooked Roscommon.
4. A prick or scruple of conscience; uneasiness of conscience; compunction. Dryden.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
28 May 2025
AIR
(noun) a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing; “an air of mystery”; “the house had a neglected air”; “an atmosphere of defeat pervaded the candidate’s headquarters”; “the place had an aura of romance”
Coffee Trivia
