Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A hard indigestible mass of material, such as hair, plant fibers, or seeds, found in the stomach or intestine of animals, especially ruminants and sometimes humans. Bezoars were formerly considered to be antidotes to poisons and to possess magic properties.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A name for certain calculi or concretions found in the stomach or intestines of some animals (especially ruminants), formerly supposed to be efficacious in preventing the fatal effects of poison, and still held in estimation in some eastern countries.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A calculous concretion found in the intestines of certain ruminant animals (as the wild goat, the gazelle, and the Peruvian llama) formerly regarded as an unfailing antidote for poison, and a certain remedy for eruptive, pestilential, or putrid diseases. Hence: Any antidote or panacea.
- noun See
Antelope . - noun (Zoöl.) the wild goat (
Capra ægagrus ). - noun an old preparation of oxide of antimony.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun chiefly UK A mass, usually of hair or undigested vegetable matter, found in an animal's
intestines . Ahairball . - noun An
enterolith .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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There is a famous law-case of James the First's time, in which a goldsmith sold a hundred pounds 'worth of what he called bezoar, which was proved to be false, and the purchaser got a verdict against him.
Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851
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There is a famous law-case of James the First's time, in which a goldsmith sold a hundred pounds 'worth of what he called bezoar, which was proved to be false, and the purchaser got a verdict against him.
Medical Essays, 1842-1882 Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851
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Another, chicken-egg sized bezoar is beautifully mounted in an engraved and enameled gold framework that was apparently designed to be suspended from a chain.
Archive 2007-07-01 Heather McDougal 2007
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Another, chicken-egg sized bezoar is beautifully mounted in an engraved and enameled gold framework that was apparently designed to be suspended from a chain.
Weird Stones Heather McDougal 2007
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A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Rowling, J. K. 1997
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This would be a tragedy because the bezoar is a resilient wild species that crosses readily with domestic goats, and it could pass on its genetic inheritance for heat, drought, and cold tolerance: disease resistance; and other survival qualities.
1 Microcattle 1991
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It produces the anti-poison called bezoar stone, (called in the Arabic _Bide El Horrek_, i.e. the testicle of the Horreh.)
An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa Abd Salam Shabeeny
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In the East the most celebrated of these stones, since the period of Arabic civilisation, is called a bezoar-stone, "Bezoar" is the Persian word for "antidote," and does not apply only to a stone.
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It was called the bezoar stone, and was a concretion chiefly of resinous bile and magnesia, and the rest inert vegetable matter.
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals R. Lee 1865
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It's clear that bezoar stones are now thoroughly explained (like a pearl, bezoar stones - as opposed to another kind of bezoar, like a hairy bezoar - are usually caused by the initial introduction of some irritant into the digestive tract).
Weird Stones Heather McDougal 2007
fbharjo commented on the word bezoar
protector from poison (harm): antidote: similar to lord or satrap
February 11, 2007
sionnach commented on the word bezoar
A related concept is that of mithridatism, which is the building up a tolerance by taking a series of gradually increasing doses over a long period of time until very high doses are tolerated.
(Warning! Don't try this at home: it works for only certain types of drugs/poisons, depending on the nature of the primary toxicity).
Mithridatism plays a key role in 'The Princess Bride', also in a very well-known murder mystery by ... well, better not to risk being a spoiler
February 16, 2007
sionnach commented on the word bezoar
I'm not familiar with the lord-satrap aspect, but it seems remiss not to mention the physical properties of a bezoar:
a hard indigestible mass of material, such as hair, vegetable fibers, or fruits, found in the stomachs or intestines of animals, especially ruminants, and humans. It was formerly considered to be an antidote to poisons and to possess magic properties
February 21, 2007
reesetee commented on the word bezoar
Sounds like something that would kill you before the poison did. Blecch.
February 21, 2007
jennarenn commented on the word bezoar
Harry Potter uses one of these in book six. (Sorry u, it's not over yet.)
July 25, 2007
uselessness commented on the word bezoar
More like Harry SNOTTER! Hee hee, I'm so witty. ;-)
July 25, 2007
reesetee commented on the word bezoar
I'm with u. I'm all Pottered out.
July 25, 2007
jennarenn commented on the word bezoar
Yes, the Potter patter is petering out.
July 25, 2007
uselessness commented on the word bezoar
And pickling peppers, perchance?
July 25, 2007
reesetee commented on the word bezoar
Perhaps Potter partygoers are pooped. It's perfectly possible.
July 25, 2007
uselessness commented on the word bezoar
Poppycock!
July 25, 2007
jennarenn commented on the word bezoar
Perusers of Potter publications are probably plotting pranks as we speak.
(Yes, I cheated on publications. Whatcha gonna do about it?)
July 26, 2007
reesetee commented on the word bezoar
Probably. People pay plentiful pennies for Potter publications.
July 26, 2007
milosrdenstvi commented on the word bezoar
similar to a trichobezoar, I suppose
August 22, 2008