See also: Meerschaum

English

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Meerschaum pipe

Etymology

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Borrowed from German Meerschaum (literally sea foam).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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meerschaum (countable and uncountable, plural meerschaums)

  1. (uncountable) A soft white mineral, chiefly used for smoking-pipes and cigar holders.
    Synonym: sepiolite
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind[1]:
      He gazed around until on the lid of a spinet he spotted a promising collection of bottles, gin, whiskey, vermouth and sherry, mixed with violin bows, a flute, a toppling pile of books, six volumes of Grove's Dictionary mingled with paperback thrillers, a guitar without any strings, a pair of binoculars, a meerschaum pipe and a jar half-full of wasps and apricot jam.
  2. (countable) A smoking-pipe made from meerschaum.
    • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Romance and Reality. [], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, [], →OCLC, page 330:
      The sale of part of his property cleared the rest. A large portion of his income was put aside to accumulate. Horses, pictures, wines, bijouterie, German meerschaum, and Turkish hookahs, were alike brought to the hammer.
    • 1831, Edgar Allan Poe, “The purloined letter”, in An edition of Poems[2]:
      At Paris, just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18—, I was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and a meerschaum, in company with my friend C. Auguste Dupin, in his little back library, or book-closet, au troisiême, No. 33, Rue Dunôt, Faubourg St. Germain.

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Further reading

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  • David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Meerschaum”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
  • meerschaum”, in Mindat.org[3], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.