The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
WHIN
whinstone, whin
(noun) any of various hard colored rocks (especially rocks consisting of chert or basalt)
woodwaxen, dyer's greenweed, dyer's-broom, dyeweed, greenweed, whin, woadwaxen, Genista tinctoria
(noun) small Eurasian shrub having clusters of yellow flowers that yield a dye; common as a weed in Britain and the United States; sometimes grown as an ornamental
gorse, furze, whin, Irish gorse, Ulex europaeus
(noun) very spiny and dense evergreen shrub with fragrant golden-yellow flowers; common throughout western Europe
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
whin (countable and uncountable, plural whins)
Gorse; furze (Ulex spp.).
The plant woad-waxen (Genista tinctoria).
Etymology 2
Noun
whin
Whinstone.
Source: Wiktionary
Whin, n. Etym: [W. chwyn weeds, a single weed.]
1. (Bot.) (a) Gorse; furze. See Furze. Through the whins, and by the cairn. Burns.
(b) Woad-waxed. Gray.
2. Same as Whinstone. [Prov. Eng.] Moor whin or Petty whin (Bot.), a low prickly shrub (Genista Anglica) common in Western Europe.
– Whin bruiser, a machine for cutting and bruising whin, or furze, to feed cattle on.
– Whin Sparrow (Zoöl.), the hedge sparrow. [Prov. Eng.] -- Whin Thrush (Zoöl.), the redwing. [Prov. Eng.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
3 May 2025
DESIRABLE
(adjective) worth having or seeking or achieving; “a desirable job”; “computer with many desirable features”; “a desirable outcome”
Coffee Trivia
