pousse-café
Americannoun
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pousse-cafés
plural
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an after-dinner drink of liqueurs of various colors and specific gravities, carefully poured into a glass so as to remain floating in separate layers.
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a small glass of liqueur served after coffee.
noun
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a drink of liqueurs of different colours in unmixed layers
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any liqueur taken with coffee at the end of a meal
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pousse-café
1875–80; < French: literally, (it) pushes on (the) coffee
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.
It's a technicolor dream of a smoothie, a pousse-café meets a parfait meets a smoothie, as delicious as it was visually stunning.
From Salon ● May 19, 2022
Over what was probably not pousse-café, Ricky took out a deck of cards and stunned us into admiration.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2018
I have become acquainted with a drink called pousse-café, which contains all the colors of the rainbow.
From The Valiants of Virginia by Hallie Erminie Rives
In other words, sir, you are a sort of human pousse-café, a mighty agreeable concoction, Mr. Bib, though a trifle dangerous to tackle at breakfast.
From Half-Hours with the Idiot by John Kendrick Bangs
She had uttered her protest against the pilgrimage, as she had swept the Parisian's pousse-café from his elbow.
From In and out of Three Normady Inns by Anna Bowman Dodd
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
