coffeehouse
Americannoun
plural
coffeehouses-
a public place that specializes in serving coffee and other refreshments and that sometimes provides informal entertainment.
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(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)
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Informal. to engage in aimless talk or chitchat.
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Cards. to make remarks and gestures during play with the purpose of misleading opponents as to the cards one holds.
Other Word Forms
- coffeehouser noun
Etymology
Origin of coffeehouse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Consider Joseph Morgan III. Born in 1780 into a Welsh immigrant family that became successful Massachusetts farmers, he sold the farm and invested in a Hartford, Conn., coffeehouse and stagecoach line.
From Barron's • Jan. 13, 2026
Some customers agree that the strike is the thing keeping them from returning to the leather-clad clutches of the coffeehouse.
From Slate • Dec. 22, 2025
It’s not that unusual to see a famous face at the local coffeehouse, supermarket or power-walking along San Vicente Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
Lloyd’s to this day has liveried staff called waiters, a throwback to its 1688 beginnings in Edward Lloyd’s coffeehouse close to the River Thames.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
Watson next door was interested in selling his lot, but I couldn’t afford to build an addition to the coffeehouse, not yet.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
