In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
wreaks
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of wreak
• wakers, wrakes
Source: Wiktionary
Wreak, v. i.
Definition: To reck; to care. [Obs.] Shak.
Wreak, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wreaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Wreaking.] Etym: [OE. wrek to revenge, punish, drive out, AS. wrecan; akin to OFries. wreka, OS. wrekan to punish, D. wreken to avenge, G. rächen, OHG. rehhan, Icel. reka to drive, to take vengeance, Goth. wrikan to persecute, Lith. vargas distress, vargti to suffer distress, L. urgere to drive, urge, Gr. Urge, Wreck, Wretch.]
1. To revenge; to avenge. [Archaic] He should wreake him on his foes. Chaucer. Another's wrongs to wreak upon thyself. Spenser. Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain. Fairfax.
2. To execute in vengeance or passion; to inflict; to hurl or drive; as, to wreak vengeance on an enemy. On me let Death wreak all his rage. Milton. Now was the time to be avenged on his old enemy, to wreak a grudge of seventeen years. Macaulay. But gather all thy powers, And wreak them on the verse that thou dost weave. Bryant.
Wreak, n. Etym: [Cf. AS. wræc exile, persecution, misery. See Wreak, v. t.]
Definition: Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment. [Obs.] Shak. Spenser.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
15 April 2025
(adjective) marked by or promising bad fortune; “their business venture was doomed from the start”; “an ill-fated business venture”; “an ill-starred romance”; “the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons”- W.H.Prescott
In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.