HEMLOCK

hemlock, hemlock tree

(noun) an evergreen tree

hemlock

(noun) soft coarse splintery wood of a hemlock tree especially the western hemlock

hemlock, poison hemlock, poison parsley, California fern, Nebraska fern, winter fern, Conium maculatum

(noun) large branching biennial herb native to Eurasia and Africa and adventive in North America having large fernlike leaves and white flowers; usually found in damp habitats; all parts extremely poisonous

hemlock

(noun) poisonous drug derived from an Eurasian plant of the genus Conium; “Socrates refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

hemlock (countable and uncountable, plural hemlocks)

Any of the poisonous umbelliferous plants, of the genera

Conium, either Conium maculatum or Conium chaerophylloides.

Cicuta, water hemlock plant.

The poison obtained from these Conium and Cicuta plants.

Any of several coniferous trees, of the genus Tsuga, that grow in North America; the wood of such trees.

Synonyms

• (Conium): beaver poison, devil's porridge, herb bennet, musquash root, poison hemlock, poison parsley, spotted corobane, spotted hemlock Conium maculatum; Conium chaerophylloides; Conium conium maculatum

Source: Wiktionary


Hem"lock, n. Etym: [OE. hemeluc, humloc, AS. hemlic, hymlic.]

1. (Bot.)

Definition: The name of several poisonous umbelliferous herbs having finely cut leaves and small white flowers, as the Cicuta maculata, bulbifera, and virosa, and the Conium maculatum. See Conium.

Note: The potion of hemlock administered to Socrates is by some thought to have been a decoction of Cicuta virosa, or water hemlock, by others, of Conium maculatum.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: An evergreen tree common in North America (Abies, or Tsuga, Canadensis); hemlock spruce. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks. Longfellow.

3. The wood or timber of the hemlock tree. Ground hemlock, or Dwarf hemlock. See under Ground.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

24 November 2024

CUNT

(noun) a person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked; “she said her son thought Hillary was a bitch”


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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