coffee

noun

cof·fee ˈkȯ-fē

ˈkä-

often attributive

: a beverage made by percolation, infusion, or decoction from the roasted and ground seeds of a coffee plant

: any of several Old World tropical plants (genus Coffea and especially C. arabica and C. canephora) of the madder family that are widely cultivated in warm regions for their seeds from which coffee is prepared

: coffee seeds especially roasted and often ground compare arabica, robusta

: a dehydrated product made from brewed coffee

instant coffee

also : a beverage made from this

: a cup of coffee

two coffees

: coffee hour

Did you know?

Coffee is made from the roasted and ground seeds, or beans, of the coffee plant, a tropical evergreen shrub. Two of the 25 or more species, Arabica and Robusta, supply most of the world's coffee. Arabica is grown in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia; Robusta mainly in Africa. The shrub bears small white flowers with a jasmine-like fragrance. The fruit, which is red when mature, is called a cherry. The seed is called a bean. Coffee contains large amounts of caffeine, whose effects have always been an important element in the drink's popularity. Coffee-drinking dates from the 15th century in Arabia. It reached Europe by the 17th century and immediately became popular. Coffee is consumed by about one-third of the world's population.

Example Sentences

I bought a pound of coffee.

Recent Examples on the Web Rates include round-trip airfare, lodging, a rental car, breakfast and dinner each day, and a selection of excursions, such as visiting a Kona coffee farm, diving with manta rays, and attending a traditional Hawaiian luau dinner show. —

Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 28 May 2023 Equally intriguing, the show is being presented by Java Joe Flamini, whose now-defunct Java Joe’s coffee house is where Page, Jewel, Steve Poltz, Jason Mraz, Lisa Sanders and other then-budding young troubadours got their starts in the 1990s. —

George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2023 Black coffee followed by 45 minutes of training in the backyard with Joe. —

Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 26 May 2023 Add one scoop daily in plain water or in your cup of tea or coffee to start losing weight with Fast Lean Pro. —

Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 25 May 2023 Starbucks is switching up the ice in its iced coffee. —

Chris Morris, Fortune, 25 May 2023 An expansion came three years later with the opening of Angelo's On The Side, which offered coffee and housed a separate kitchen for takeout. —

Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 16 May 2023 Amy Dinwiddie still remembers her mom’s coffee cup in the sink. —

The Indianapolis Star, 14 May 2023 Getting cursed out by a manager is like your morning coffee. —

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coffee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.