A spittoon or vessel designed for spitting, particularly used in 18th-19th century parlors and public spaces.
From French 'crachoir' (from 'cracher,' meaning 'to spit,' from Vulgar Latin 'craccare'). This was borrowed into English for a specific piece of furniture.
Crachoirs reveal a lost world—when tobacco and tuberculosis were rampant, spittoons were essential furniture in homes, trains, and theaters, a design problem that disappeared when public health and smoking restrictions changed.
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