Scotch coffee
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Sense 1
Meaning · English
Ship's biscuits toasted and boiled in water.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Sense 2
Meaning · English
biscuits toasted and boiled in water. A gross calumny on the much-enduring Scotians; a supposed joke on their parsimony.—Sea.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Where it’s used:
Origin
British & Irish English
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Scotch coffee” mean?
Ship's biscuits toasted and boiled in water.
Is “Scotch coffee” formal or informal?
Scotch coffee is generally slang.