Dictionary

meerschaum en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /mɪər.ʃəm/
• /ˈmɪər.ʃɔːm/

Etymology

Borrowed from German Meerschaum (literally “sea foam”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A soft white mineral, chiefly used for smoking-pipes and cigar holders.
   • 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. 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind:
2. (countable) A smoking-pipe made from meerschaum.
   • There was nothing else to do, and he was doing it to the best of his ability - having, in fact, fallen into a trance of admiration before a large meerschaum - when MacQuibble hove in sight on his way to the Life Class at the Gallery. 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 150:
   • 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. 1831, Edgar Allan Poe, “The purloined letter”, in An edition of Poems:
   • 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, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 330:

Forms

Synonyms

sepiolite

Translations (20)

pl sepiolit (mineral) · bg лула от морска пяна (smoking pipe) · pl fajka z pianki morskiej (smoking pipe) · sv sjöskum (mineral) · tr denizköpüğü (mineral) · sv sjöskumspipa (smoking pipe) · fi merenvahapiippu (smoking pipe) · bg морска пяна (mineral) · fi merenvaha (mineral) · ru сепиоли́т (mineral) · pl pianka morska (mineral) · ro pipă din spumă-de-mare (smoking pipe) · ro spumă-de-mare (mineral) · fr écume de mer (mineral) · cs meršánka (smoking pipe) · de Meerschaum (smoking pipe) · tr lüle taşı (mineral) · cs pěnovka (smoking pipe) · ro piatră ponce (mineral) · de Meerschaum (mineral)