Starbucks

English

Etymology

Named after Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. Melville named the character in honor of the Starbuck family, a prominent whaling family based in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The surname itself derives from the community of Starbeck in North Yorkshire, England.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈstɑːˌbʌks/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈstɑːɹˌbʌks/

Proper noun

Starbucks (plural Starbuckses or Starbucks)

  1. A widespread chain of coffee shops.
    • 2005 April 30, Melinda Newman, “Q&A”, in Billboard, number 18, page 31:
      Each week, more than 33 million folks worldwide pass through a Starbucks. Plus, up to three Starbucks open every day somewhere on the globe.
    • 2008, Andrew M. Jones, The Innovation Acid Test: Growth Through Design and Differentiation, →ISBN:
      Consider the Starbucks effect in the slogans written up recently in Fast Company magazine, where companies from various sectors now aspire to be the 'Starbucks of their respective industry': ...
    • 2010, Michael Salvatore, {Between} Boyfriends, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 49:
      On my three-block walk to the subway I noticed not one, not two, but four Starbucks, which was quite a high concentration of retail outlets even for the Queen of Caffeine.
    • 2013, Taylor Clark, Starbucked, →ISBN:
      Companies now want to turn themselves into “the Starbucks of the ham business” or “the Starbucks of fuel-injector makers.”
    • 2015, O. C. Ferrell; John Fraedrich; Linda Ferrell, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases, tenth edition, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 397:
      Many people began to wonder whether we really needed two Starbucks directly across the street from each other.
    • 2014, George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society, →ISBN:
      Said the CEO of the nearly 500-plus store Caribou Coffee chain, “I got into the business because of what they [Starbucks] created.” In China, a small chain, Real Brewed Tea, aims to be “the Starbucks of tea.”

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Starbucks (plural Starbuckses or Starbucks)

  1. (metonymically) A coffee from Starbucks.
    • 2009, Cheyenne McCray, Demons Not Included: A Night Tracker Novel, page 163:
      I swear, if I had been drinking my Starbucks today it would have gone up my nose.
    • 2010, Timothy, “How My Life Changed”, in Kevin Leman, Have a New You by Friday: How to Accept Yourself, Boost Your Confidence & Change Your Life in 5 Days, Revell, →ISBN, page 73:
      I read it straight through while I drank three Starbucks.

See also

  • Tim Hortons, often claimed the Canadian equivalent of the chain

Anagrams

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