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