ˈsea-foam
1. Foam of the sea.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14409 Moyses..led þaim thoru þe see fame. 14.. Sir Beuis (MS. C.) 502 Til þay come to þe se fome. c 1460 Emare 805 When she was fled ouur þe see fome, The nobulle kyng dwelled at home, Wyth fulle heuy chere. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Escumier, Venus..is fained to haue beene bred of the sea-foame. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. i, The merry seamen laugh'd to see Their gallant ship so lustily Furrow the green sea-foam. 1865 Swinburne Chastelard i. ii. 31 Between the sea-foam and the sea. |
b. attrib.
| 1611 Cotgr., s.v. Sel, Escume de sel, Sea-foame salt. |
† 2. = sea-froth 3. Obs.
| 1725 [see sea-forth 3]. 1852 E. A. Andrews Lat.-Eng. Lex. s.v. Alcyoneus, Alcyoneum medicamen..Sea-foam, a good remedy for white specks in the eyes. |
3. [tr. Ger. meerschaum] = meerschaum.
| 1837 Dana Syst. Min. 256 Sea Foam; called also Meer⁓schaum, and Magnesite. |