English

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Etymology

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From de- +‎ spume. Compare French despumer. See despumate.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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despume (third-person singular simple present despumes, present participle despuming, simple past and past participle despumed)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To free from spume or scum.
    • 1657, Jean de Renou, translated by Rich Tomlinson, A Medicinal Dispensatory: Containing the Whole Body of Physick : Discovering the Natures, Properties, and Vertues of Vegetables, Minerals, & Animals:
      The Honey must first be cocted in water, and despumed; then must the Vinegar be by little and little adjected

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for despume”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

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