COFFEE


Meaning of COFFEE in English

cof ‧ fee S1 W2 /ˈkɒfi $ ˈkɒːfi, ˈkɑːfi/ BrE AmE noun

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Italian ; Origin: caffè , from Turkish kahve , from Arabic qahwa ]

1 . [uncountable] a hot dark brown drink that has a slightly bitter taste:

Do you want a cup of coffee?

Do you like your coffee white (=with milk) or black (=without milk) ?

2 . [uncountable and countable] a cup of coffee:

Who wants a coffee?

over coffee

dinner guests chatting over coffee (=while drinking coffee)

⇨ ↑ decaffeinated

3 . [uncountable] whole coffee beans, crushed coffee beans, or a powder to which you add water to make coffee:

a jar of coffee

instant coffee (=powdered coffee)

I haven’t got any real coffee (=coffee beans) at the moment.

4 . [uncountable] a light brown colour

⇨ wake up and smell the coffee at ↑ wake up (3)

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ phrases

▪ a cup/mug of coffee

Jake had a quick breakfast and a mug of coffee.

▪ a pot of coffee

Shall I make a pot of coffee?

■ verbs

▪ have a coffee

She stopped in a café to have a quick coffee.

▪ drink coffee

I don’t often drink coffee.

▪ sip coffee (=drink it slowly)

He sat in his chair, peacefully sipping his coffee.

▪ make coffee

You wash up and I’ll make the coffee.

▪ pour the coffee (out)

He poured the coffee out into mugs.

▪ spill coffee

He’d accidentally spilt coffee over the table.

■ adjectives

▪ black (=without milk)

He went up to the counter and ordered a black coffee.

▪ white (=with milk)

I’d like a white coffee, please.

▪ fresh (=made very recently using coffee beans)

the delicious smell of fresh coffee

▪ strong/weak

I needed some strong coffee to wake me up.

▪ milky (=with a lot of milk in it)

a steaming mug of milky coffee

▪ decaffeinated ( also decaf informal ) (=without any caffeine in it)

Have you got any decaf coffee?

■ coffee + NOUN

▪ a coffee cup/mug

Kate put down her coffee cup.

▪ a coffee pot

She refilled the coffee pot.

▪ a coffee machine (=for making coffee)

Janice crossed to the coffee machine and filled two plastic cups.

▪ a coffee break (=a break from work to have some coffee)

Shall we stop for a coffee break?

▪ a coffee stain (=a mark left by coffee or a coffee cup)

The table was covered in coffee stains.

• • •

THESAURUS

■ types of coffee

▪ espresso strong black Italian coffee:

I’ll have a double espresso.

▪ latte coffee made by adding a lot of hot milk to a small amount of strong coffee:

Two lattes please.

▪ cappuccino coffee that has hot milk with a lot of bubbles in it, usually with chocolate powder on top:

I’ll have another cappuccino, please.

▪ Americano coffee made by pouring a small amount of strong black Italian coffee on top of hot water:

Can I have an Americano?

▪ decaf informal coffee that does not contain ↑ caffeine . Decaf is short for ‘decaffeinated’:

I always drink decaf.

|

a decaf latte

▪ skinny a skinny latte or capuccino has very low-fat milk in it:

I asked for a skinny latte, not a full-fat one.

▪ filter coffee coffee made using a paper filter:

We usually drink filter coffee at home.

▪ iced coffee coffee served cold with ice:

a can of iced coffee

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.