different between seethe vs froth

English

Alternative forms

• seeth

Etymology

From Middle English sethen, from Old English s?oþan (“to seethe, boil, cook in a liquid; subject to a fiery ordeal, try as with fire; subject to great pain, afflict, afflict grievously, disturb; prepare food for the mind; subject the mind with occupations; be troubled in mind, brood”), from Proto-Germanic *seuþan? (“to seethe, boil”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?sewt-, *h?sut-, *h?sew- (“to move about, roil, seethe”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si?ð/

• Rhymes: -i?ð

Verb

seethe (third-person singular simple present seethes, present participle seething, simple past seethed or (archaic) sod, past participle seethed or (archaic) sodden)

1. (transitive, archaic) To boil.
   • 1933, Herbert Danby, The Mishnah, p.289:

     When he had cooked or seethed the Peace-offering, the priest took the sodden shoulder of the ram and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite and waved them.

   • 1960, James Enge, Travellers' Rest:

     “Seethe some of that in Gar Vindisc's good water and bring it to us. Bread, too, as long as you don't make it from shellbacks.”

2. (intransitive, of a liquid) To boil vigorously.
3. (intransitive, of a liquid) To foam in an agitated manner, as if boiling.
4. (intransitive, of a person, figuratively) To be in an agitated or angry mental state, as if boiling.
5. (intransitive, of a place, figuratively) To buzz with activity.
   • 2011, Kate Kingsley, Kiss & Break Up (page 201)

     Shock Box was the skankiest bar in Hasted, complete with a cheesy jukebox, cheap pints, and a sweaty club in the basement that seethed every weekend with a superhorny boarding-school crowd.

Derived terms

• forseethe

Related terms

• suds

Translations

Anagrams

• sheete

English

Etymology

From Middle English froth, frooth, froþ, likely a borrowing from Old Norse froða, from Proto-Germanic *fruþ?; Old English ?fr?oþan (“to foam, froth”) is from same Germanic root. Verb attested from late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f???/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /f???/
• Rhymes: -??, Rhymes: -???

Noun

froth (countable and uncountable, plural froths)

1. foam

2. (figuratively) unimportant events or actions; drivel

   Thousands of African children die each day: why do the newspapers continue to discuss unnecessary showbiz froth?

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

froth (third-person singular simple present froths, present participle frothing, simple past and past participle frothed)

1. (transitive) To create froth in (a liquid).
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Book Two, Chapter 7, [1]

     One lacquey carried the chocolate-pot into the sacred presence; a second, milled and frothed the chocolate with the little instrument he bore for that function; a third, presented the favoured napkin; a fourth (he of the two gold watches), poured the chocolate out.

   I like to froth my coffee for ten seconds exactly.

2. (intransitive) (of a liquid) To bubble.
   • 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” lines 21-4, [2]

     Colder and louder blew the wind,

     A gale from the Northeast,

     The snow fell hissing in the brine,

     And the billows frothed like yeast.

   • 1973, “Black Day in Brussels,” Time, 19 February, 1973, [3]

     English beer, along with European brews, is already the subject of an EEC investigation to determine whether additives like stabilizers (used to prevent frothing during shipment) should be allowed.

3. (transitive) To spit, vent, or eject, as froth.
   • 1690, John Dryden, Don Sebastian, a Tragedy, Act I, Scene 1, [4]

     The Mufti reddens; mark that holy cheek.

     He frets within, froths treason at his mouth,

     And churns it thro’ his teeth […]

   • 1859, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Merlin and Vivien” in Idylls of the King, [5]

     […] is your spleen frothed out, or have ye more?

4. (intransitive) (literally) To spew saliva as froth; (figuratively) to rage, vent one's anger.
   • 1958, Nikos Kazantzakis, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938), translated by Kimon Friar, London: Secker and Warburg, Book XIII,

     The clumsy suckling struck out with her still soft claws,

     opened her frothing mouth until her milk teeth shone.

   • 1962, “Riding Crime's Crest” in Time, 25 April, 1962, [6]

     As doctors tried in vain to save April's right eye, news stories frothed at her assailant. He was “fiendish” (the Examiner), “sadistic” (the News-Call Bulletin), “probably a sexual psychopath” (the Chronicle).

5. (transitive) To cover with froth.

   A horse froths his chain.

Translations

Derived terms

• frothy
• froth at the mouth
• froth up

References

Anagrams

• Forth, forth, forth-