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foam at the mouth

 - 6 dictionary results

foam

[fohm]
–noun
1. a collection of minute bubbles formed on the surface of a liquid by agitation, fermentation, etc.: foam on a glass of beer.
2. the froth of perspiration, caused by great exertion, formed on the skin of a horse or other animal.
3. froth formed from saliva in the mouth, as in epilepsy and rabies.
4. a thick frothy substance, as shaving cream.
5. (in firefighting)
a. a chemically produced substance that smothers the flames on a burning liquid by forming a layer of minute, stable, heat-resistant bubbles on the liquid's surface.
b. the layer of bubbles so formed.
6. a dispersion of gas bubbles in a solid, as foam glass, foam rubber, polyfoam, or foamed metal.
7. Literary. the sea.
–verb (used without object)
8. to form or gather foam; emit foam; froth.
–verb (used with object)
9. to cause to foam.
10. to cover with foam; apply foam to: to foam a runway before an emergency landing.
11. to insulate with foam.
12. to make (plastic, metal, etc.) into a foam.
13. foam at the mouth, to be extremely or uncontrollably angry.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME fom, OE fām; c. G Feim


foam⋅a⋅ble, adjective
foamer, noun
foam⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
foamless, adjective
foamlike, adjective


1. froth, spume, head, fizz; scum.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
foam

  1. n.
    beer. : All the guy thinks about is foam.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

foam  (n.)
O.E. fam "foam, saliva froth," from W.Gmc. *faima (cf. O.H.G. veim, Ger. Feim), from PIE *poim(n)o- (cf. Skt. phenah; L. pumex "pumice," spuma "foam;" O.C.S. pena "foam;" Lith. spaine "a streak of foam"). The verb is from O.E. famgian "to foam." The rubber or plastic variety so called from 1937.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: foam
Pronunciation: 'fOm
Function: noun
: a light frothy mass of fine bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid foamfor contraceptive use> —foam verb
Science Dictionary
foam   (fōm)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. Small, frothy bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid, as from fermentation or shaking.

  2. A colloid in which particles of a gas are dispersed throughout a liquid. Compare aerosol, emulsion.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

foam at the mouth

Be extremely angry, as in She was foaming at the mouth over the judge's ruling. This hyperbolic term uses the verb foam in the sense of "froth at the mouth," a usage generally applied to animals such as horses and dating from about a.d. 950. [1400s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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