▪ I. froth, n.
(frɒθ, -ɔː-)
Forms: 4 frooth, froþe, 5–6 frothe, 6–8 froath, 4– froth.
[Not found in OE.; perh. a. ON. froða wk. fem. (Da. fraade; the relation of Sw. fradga is obscure), related to the synonymous ON. frauð neut.; the root (OTeut. *freuþ-, frauþ-, frud-) appears in OE. á-fréoðan to froth.
Possibly the Eng. word represents both ON. frauð and froða; for the later shortening cf. cloth.]
1. a. The aggregation of small bubbles formed in liquids by agitation, fermentation, effervescence, etc.; foam, spume; = foam n. 1.
| 1382 Wyclif Hos. x. 6 Samarie made his king for to passe, as frooth on the face of water. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 180/2 Frothe, spuma. 1530 Palsgr. 223/1 Frothe of an egge, glette. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 24 Venus was feigned by the Poets to spring of the froathe of the Seas. 1648 Gage West Ind. xvi. 106 Untill it bubble and rise into a froath. 1672–3 Grew Anat. Roots i. iii. §4 The Froth of Beer or Eggs. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 333 The water was all a white foam of froth. 1795 Sir J. Dalrymple Let. to Admiralty 4 It would prevent the Yeast, or, as it is commonly called, the Froth, from bubbling over. 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 132 This second caldron is always covered with a foam or froth. 1886 Tip Cat xxii. 300 She..had shaken the bottle so vigourously that its contents were more than half froth. |
| transf. and fig. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 108 Through the resistyng of the froath and enticementes of sinne. 1635 Swan Spec. M. i. §3 (1643) 24 The doting froth of a wittie brain. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. v. (1685) 71 Forgive those foolish words—They were the froth my raging folly mov'd When it boil'd up. 1692 Wagstaffe Vind. Carol. Introd. 11 My end is..to blow off that Froth, that has been thrown on his Memory. 1824 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 3 Society is froth above and dregs below. 1878 Morley Carlyle 194 The lees and froth of common humanity. |
b. spec. Foaming saliva issuing from the mouth.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1572 Þe froþe femed at his mouth vnfayre bi þe wykez, Whettez his whyte tuschez. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxv. x. 542 The froth which fell from his [a dog's] mouth as hee panted and blowed almost windlesse with running. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Froth..is a moist white matter that oozes from a horse's mouth. 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., Froth, bronchial, the tenacious frothy secretion expectorated in some cases of asthma..and other affections of the respiratory organs. |
c. Extraneous or impure matter rising to the surface of liquids during boiling, etc.; scum.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xviii. (1541) 134 That [water], wherof commeth least skimme or froth, whan it doth boyle. 1648 Gage West Ind. xvi. 107 In wine which is in the Must..a thinner substance, which is the flower, and may be called the scum, or froath. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 170 To skim off the froth collected on the surface. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 193 Its name recalling its origin as the froth or scum of lava. 1883 Hardwick's Photogr. Chem. (ed. Taylor) 363 A mixture is made of Gelatine, Albumen, [etc.]..the ingredients being well beaten together; when the froth has settled down the mixture is filtered. |
2. a. Something comparable to ‘froth’ as being unsubstantial or of little worth.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 212 What win I if I gaine the thing I seeke?..a froth of fleeting ioy. 1604 Earl Stirling Darius i, Chorus, Drunke with frothes of pleasure. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 210 Nothing but froth, childishnesse and vncertanetie. 1686 A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus xxii. 629 When thou hast delighted in froth, and idle talk. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. iii. (1852) 547 It was food and not froth, which in his publick sermons he entertained the souls of his people with. 1783 H. Blair Rhet. (1812) II. xviii. 23 There is no froth nor affectation in it. |
† b. Applied to what is tender or immature.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2270 We Romayns þat þey han in prison loke, Ben but ȝonge froth, vnlernëd in batayle, And othir feble folk with age I-broke. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. lix, Eate vp thy veale, pig and lambe being froth. |
3. Applied contemptuously to persons.
Cf. scum.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 167 Froth, and scum thou liest. 1603 Dekker Grissil iii. ii. Wks. (Grosart) V. 168 Out, you froth, you scumme. 1678 Marvell Growth Popery 22 The Froath of the town, and the Scum of the University. 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xv, That his son should consort with all..the dirtiest froth of the sea. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. attributive, as
froth-flake;
froth-like adj.;
b. instrumental and originative, as
froth-becurled,
froth-born,
froth-clad,
froth-faced,
froth-foamy adjs.;
c. special comb., as
froth-blower joc., a beer-drinker: adopted as the title of a certain charitable organization;
froth-spit = cuckoo-spit 1;
froth-stick, a stick for whipping cream, etc. Also in many names given to the frog-hopper (
Aphrophora spumaria) or cuckoo-spit insect, as
froth-fly,
-frog-hopper,
-insect,
-worm.
| 1624 Milton Ps. cxiv. 8 That saw the troubled sea and shivering fled And sought to hide his *froth-becurled head. |
| 1905 Daily Chron. 25 Mar. 6/4 The quaintly-named ‘*Froth Blowers’..are a little group of twenty-four working men. 1927 Times 25 June 9/7 A company limited by guarantee under the title of ‘Ye Ancient Order of Froth-Blowers, Limited’, has been registered to take over all or part of the property and liabilities of the incorporated Ancient Order of Froth-Blowers. 1928 Times 8 Feb. 5/3 In 1924 Mr. Herbert Temple..desired to benefit certain charities. He invented the name ‘Ancient Order of Frothblowers’. 1928 ‘Sapper’ Female of Species xvii, Now then, boys, once again—and all together—Froth Blowers for ever. 1931 E. Waugh Remote People i. 12 He had Froth Blowers' cuff-links, and a Rotarian wheel in his buttonhole. |
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 19/2 The *froth-born goddess of the sea. |
| 1769 Home Fatal Discov. v, The *froth-clad pool. |
| 1625 W. Harbert Poems (Grosart) 81 *Froth-faced Neptune. |
| 1841 Browning Pippa Passes Introd. 6 Not a *froth-flake touched the rim Of yonder gap in the solid gray Of the eastern cloud. 1864 *Frothfly [see fescue 4]. |
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 23 The nimble thyes Of his *froth-fomy steed. |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) II. 10 The *Froth-frog-hoppers..entered the room in such numbers as to cover the table. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 355 Of the Earwig, the *Froth Insect, and some others. |
| 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. (1861) 257 A very shallow crape bonnet frilled and *froth-like. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Froth spit or cuckow spit. |
| a 1706 Country Wedding in Watson's Collect. iii. (1706) 47 My bairn has tocher of her awn..A *Froath-stick, a Can, a Creel, a Knock. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VII. ii. v. 358 To this order of insects we may also refer the Cuckow Spit, or *Froth Worm. |
▪ II. froth, v. (
frɒθ,
-ɔː-)
Also 5–6 (?
erron.)
frote, 7–8
froath.
[f. prec. n.; ON. had fr{obar}yða.] 1. intr. To emit froth or foam; to foam at the mouth. Of liquids: To gather or throw up froth; to run foaming
away,
by,
over.
| 1382 Wyclif Mark ix. 17 The which..hirtith him, and he frothith, or vometh. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 801 As wilde bores..That frothen whyte as foom for ire wood. c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 36 The mayde begane greuously to be turmentyd, and sorer than she was woonnte to be vexid, frotyng at the moweth. 1529 More Supplic. Soulys 13 These folk..fume, frete, frote and fome as fyerce and as angerly as a new huntyd sow. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. vi. ix. 607 When oyle doth froath or fome. 1641 Hinde J. Bruen xlvii. 148 Hee would..froth and fome like a Boare. 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock ii. 136 The sea that froaths below. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 45 They..call for brimming tankards frothing o'er. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 50 Grief soon would bid the beer to run, Because the squire's mad race was done, Not less than now it froths away, Because ‘the squire's of age to-day’. 1855 Browning Childe Roland xix, This, as it frothed by, might have been a bath For the fiend's glowing hoof. 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 370 His lips frothing like a mug of hot ale. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 12 The cutlets duly frothing in their silver dish. |
| fig. 1824 Blackw. Mag. XV. 594 For this the demagogue spouts—the newspaper froths—the liberal in Parliament proses. 1873–4 Dixon Two Queens III. xiii. x. 55 The leaguers of Cambrai were frothing at each other, and preparing for a future fight. |
2. trans. To emit or send forth in or like froth or foam. Now only with
out.
| 1382 Wyclif Jude ii. 13 Frothinge out her confusiouns. 1388 ― Wisd. xi. 19 Ether beestis frothinge heete of firis. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 765 Is your spleen froth'd out, or have ye more? |
3. To cause to foam; to make froth rise on the surface of; to pour
out in such a manner as to make frothy. Also to
froth up.
| 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim iii. vi, Fill me a thousand pots, and froth 'em, froth 'em. 1715 Prior Down-Hall 120 The wine was froth'd out by the hand of mine host. 1773 Johnson in Boswell 30 Sept., She..made his coffee, and frothed his chocolate. 1806 Culina 79 Judiciously beating and frothing the eggs. 1832 Tennyson Death Old Year iii, He froth'd his bumpers to the brim. 1864 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 227 A tumbler of milk warm from the cow, and all frothed up. |
| absol. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iii. 15 Let me see thee froth and liue. |
4. To bespatter or cover with or as with froth or foam. Also,
to froth over (something).
fig.| 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. Wks. 1806 VI. 122 He suddenly bolted out..his face frothed up to the eyes with soap lather. 1801 Southey Thalaba vi. v, The foam froth'd his limbs. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxx. 415 Foam pours out from his jaws till it froths his beard. 1885 O. W. Holmes Mort. Antip. Introd. (1886) 4 A certain amount of sentiment..somewhat frothed over by his worldly experiences. |
5. Comb. † froth-can, the trick of frothing the can.
| 1624 Skelton's Ghost, E. Rumming Prol. 19 Our pots were full quarted, We were not thus thwarted, With froth-canne and nick-pot. |
Hence
ˈfrothed ppl. a.,
ˈfrothing vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1721 Þat froþande fylþe. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iii, His hasty waves among The frothed Rocks, bearing the tender song. 1628 Robin Goodfellow ii. (1638) D iij a, A Tapster..with his pots smalnesse, and with frothing of his drinke, had got a good summe of money together. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 186 By brewing Rebellion, Micking, and Frothing. 1753 Scots Mag. July 318/2 Which she..threw back with some frothed phlegm. 1795 A. Seward Lett. (1811) IV. 102 A frothing brook leaps and clamours over the rough stones. 1798 Ferriar Of Genius in Illustr. Sterne, etc. 285 Alexander learnt the art of frothing at the mouth. 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 484 The frothing might..be ascribed to the emission of this oxygen on the application of heat. 1820 L. Hunt Indicator No. 23 (1822) I. 177 That frothed glass of porter. 1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarèl I. 47 Florio was perpetually in and out..with some frothing cup of chocolate. |