The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
VEGETATE
vegetate
(verb) propagate asexually; “The bacterial growth vegetated along”
vegetate
(verb) grow or spread abnormally; “warts and polyps can vegetate if not removed”
vegetate
(verb) grow like a plant; “This fungus usually vegetates vigorously”
vegetate
(verb) produce vegetation; “The fields vegetate vigorously”
vegetate
(verb) establish vegetation on; “They vegetated the hills behind their house”
vegetate
(verb) lead a passive existence without using one’s body or mind
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
vegetate (third-person singular simple present vegetates, present participle vegetating, simple past and past participle vegetated)
(of a plant) To grow or sprout.
(of a wart etc) To spread abnormally.
(informal) To live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, unchallenging way.
Source: Wiktionary
Veg"e*tate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Vegetated; p. pr. & vb. n. Vegetating.] Etym: [L. vegetatus, p. p. of vegetare to enliven. See Vegetable.]
1. To grow, as plants, by nutriment imbibed by means of roots and leaves; to start into growth; to sprout; to germinate. See dying vegetables life sustain, See life dissolving vegetate again. Pope.
2. Fig.: To lead a live too low for an animate creature; to do nothing but eat and grow. Cowper. Persons who . . . would have vegetated stupidly in the places where fortune had fixed them. Jeffrey.
3. (Med.)
Definition: To grow exuberantly; to produce fleshy or warty outgrowths; as, a vegetating papule.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
30 April 2024
NURSE
(verb) treat carefully; “He nursed his injured back by lying in bed several hours every afternoon”; “He nursed the flowers in his garden and fertilized them regularly”
Coffee Trivia
