Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
cowhage .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) See
cowhage .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
leguminous climbing plant , of the genus Mucuna, thespiculae of which are sometimes used as a mechanicalvermifuge .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the annual woody vine of Asia having long clusters of purplish flowers and densely hairy pods; cultivated in southern United States for green manure and grazing
- noun pods of the cowage plant or the stinging hairs covering them; used as a vermifuge when mixed with e.g. honey
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It is called the cowage, or cow-itch, on account of the seed pods being covered with short brittle hairs, the points of which are finely serrated, causing an unbearable itching when applied to the skin, which is relieved by rubbing the part with oil.
Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture William Saunders 1861
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Nettle of extra-stinging quality; but it may also mean an Eastern plant that was used to produce cowage, or cow-itch.
The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare Henry Nicholson Ellacombe 1868
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Others carried bags filled with hairs of picapica; * (* Dolichos pruriens (cowage).) and blew the hair, which causes a great irritation of the skin, into the faces of those who passed by.
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 2 Alexander von Humboldt 1814
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