coffeehouse

[ kaw-fee-hous, kof-ee- ]

noun

, plural cof·fee·hous·es [kaw, -fee-hou-ziz, kof, -ee-].

1. a public place that specializes in serving coffee and other refreshments and that sometimes provides informal entertainment.
2. (in 17th- and 18th-century England) a similar establishment where groups met for a particular purpose, as for informal discussions or card playing.

verb (used without object)

, cof·fee·housed [kaw, -fee-houzd, kof, -ee-], cof·fee·hous·ing [kaw, -fee-hou-zing, kof, -ee-].

1. Informal. to engage in aimless talk or chitchat.
2. Cards. to make remarks and gestures during play with the purpose of misleading opponents as to the cards one holds.

Other Words From

• coffee·houser noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of coffeehouse¹

First recorded in 1605–15; coffee + house

Example Sentences

The recent decision comes after years of customer complaints urging the coffeehouse chain to remove the extra fee to cater to a growing number of non-milk drinkers.

From Salon

There would be an acre of garden space for tenants atop the garage and a music recording studio at street level, where there would also be a restaurant and perhaps a coffeehouse.

From Los Angeles Times

A growing number of customers are abandoning Starbucks in favor of alternative coffeehouses selling reasonably priced drinks and food.

From Salon

He played the bars and coffeehouses of the nation’s university towns, and he performed both standards and his own original songs, which came out, as one critic put it, “pre-antiquated.”

From New York Times

Originally performed in bars and coffeehouses, it went on to fame as a play, first at the Public Theater in Manhattan and then on Broadway.

From New York Times

Related Words

• coffee bar