15 February 2017

samovar

[sam-uh-vahr, sam-uh-vahr]

noun

1. a metal urn, used especially by Russians for heating water for making tea.

Origin of samovar

1820-1830; Russian samovár, equivalent to samo- self (see same ) + -var, noun derivative of varítʾ to cook, boil

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for samovar

Historical Examples

The samovar was brought in, and over hot tea and buns we speedily became acquainted.
In Search of a Siberian Klondike
Homer B. Hulbert

The maid brought in the samovar, and the conversation was interrupted.
Foma Gordyeff
Maxim Gorky

They have been ready since midnight, and the samovar also; you will drink a glass of tea, Excellencies.
The Red Symbol
John Ironside

Anagram

am savor
mars ova

Today’s quote

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.

– Fyodor Dostoevsky

On this day

15 February 1989 – the last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan after a 10 year occupation referred to as the Soviet Union’s ‘Vietnam’. The Soviets had invaded on 24 December 1979 in response to Afghan insurgents (armed by the United States) who had been attacking Soviet troops. The occupation lasts for 10 years and results in the deaths of between 600,000 and 2,000,000 Afghan civilians, as well as 6,000,000 refugees who fled to Pakistan and Iran. The cost of the Afghan occupation is a significant factor that led to the economic collapse of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet occupation, the United States funded Afghan resistance in the form of the Mujahideen and other militant Islamic groups, out of whom emerged Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The Afghan people continue to suffer and to comprise a significant portion of global refugee numbers because of the involvement of the USSR and the USA during this period.