Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Nautical, to sail steadily and rapidly, as before the wind.
- To cause to scud, as before the wind.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb (Naut.) To be driven steadily and swiftly, as before a strong wind; to be driven before the wind without any sail, or with only a part of the sails spread; to scud under bare poles.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb nautical To be driven steadily and swiftly, as before a strong wind; to be driven before the wind without any sail, or with only a part of the sails spread; to scud under bare poles.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Keep stirring the mixture frequently and mash the tomato and onions using a wooden spoom.
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Down with the fore-sail too! we'll spoom before her.cf. also _The Lucky Chance_, I, i: 'I am no Starter.'
The Works of Aphra Behn Volume IV. Aphra Behn 1664
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[To spoom, or spoon, is to go right before the wind, without any sail.
Diary of Samuel Pepys — Volume 45: August/September 1666 Samuel Pepys 1668
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[To spoom, or spoon, is to go right before the wind, without any sail.
Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 1666 N.S. Samuel Pepys 1668
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[To spoom, or spoon, is to go right before the wind, without any sail.
Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete Samuel Pepys 1668
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[To spoom, or spoon, is to go right before the wind, without any sail.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Aug/Sep 1666 Pepys, Samuel 1666
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On one hand, my Obnoxious Food Geek Self is curious to taste pizza-flavored spoom or blueberry Legos or cauliflower soup molded into John McCain†™ s face †"but I also wonder if it†™ s right and proper to treat food this way.
chained_bear commented on the word spoom
"'When virtue spooms before a prosperous gale
My heaving wishes help to fill the sail
says Dryden, that prince of poets, and the dear knows we spoom in the most virtuous manner. I suggest we all go and blow into the mainsail...'" (102)
and...
"'Come, have a cup of coffee to keep your spirits up, Mowett; then we shall go on deck, where virtue spooms before the goddam gale, and our heaving wishes will help to fill the sail, ha, ha, ha! That is Dryden, you know.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Reverse of the Medal, 105
February 24, 2008
reesetee commented on the word spoom
So I looked this up. Here's what I found:
1) To be driven steadily and swiftly, as before a strong wind; to be driven before the wind without any sail, or with only a part of the sails spread; to scud under bare poles.
2) A kind of sherbet made from fruit juice or wine, mixed after freezing with uncooked meringue.
I sure hope O'Brian's using it in the first sense. It could get rather messy otherwise.
February 25, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word spoom
Actually, in these books, they drink sherbet all the time. Which must be something other than the frozen confection we frequently enjoy with spoons nowadays.
February 25, 2008
reesetee commented on the word spoom
If it had wine in it, it wouldn't have frozen solid. Maybe it was a type of slushy. ;-)
February 25, 2008