Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An evergreen vine (Piper betle) of South and Southeast Asia, having heart-shaped or ovate leaves that are used to wrap betel nuts.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A species of pepper, Piper betle, a creeping, or climbing plant, a native of the East Indies, natural order Piperaceæ.
- noun A piece of betel-nut.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) A species of pepper (
Piper betle ), the leaves of which are chewed, with the areca or betel nut and a little shell lime, by the inhabitants of the East Indies. It is a woody climber with ovate many-nerved leaves.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Either of two
plants often used incombination
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun Asian pepper plant whose dried leaves are chewed with betel nut (seed of the betel palm) by southeast Asians
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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In the rare instances where scholarly literature mentions its subjective effects, the news about betel is uniformly good: It imparts the ... repeatedly described sensation of well-being, good humor, excitation, and comfort ...
Boing Boing: January 16, 2005 - January 22, 2005 Archives 2005
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When a visitor calls the betel-box is immediately passed to him; and as in regard to the eating of salt in Western Asia, so, in the eastern and southern portions, those who have once partaken of betel-nut together are ever after sworn to faithful and undying friendship.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 29, August, 1873 Various
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The tall, slender areca palm, which stands about every kampong, supplies the natives with their great luxury -- an acorn, known as the betel-nut, which, when crushed and mixed with lime leaves, takes the place of our chewing tobacco.
Tales of the Malayan Coast From Penang to the Philippines Rounsevelle Wildman 1882
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The betel is a species of pepper, the leaf of which very much resembles that of the black pepper, but is highly aromatic and pungent.
Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon Samuel White Baker 1857
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The betel is a creeping-plant with an aromatic leaf.
Old Jack William Henry Giles Kingston 1847
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This is an herb called betel, or _paune_, its leaf resembling that of our ivy.
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The source of their euphoria is "binglang," the dried fruit of the areca palm, sometimes referred to as betel nut, which sets the nervous system buzzing and warms the body, especially after a large banquet.
NYT > Home Page 2010
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The source of their euphoria is "binglang," the dried fruit of the areca palm, sometimes referred to as betel nut, which sets the nervous system buzzing and warms the body, especially after a large banquet.
NYT > Home Page 2010
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She escaped a year again and through Apne-Aap has started her own "betel" shop (a digestive snack).
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Strictly speaking, "betel" is the leaf of a climbing plant (buyo) that is chewed with the nut.
Philippine Folk-Tales Fletcher Gardner
chained_bear commented on the word betel
"...his teeth were indeed quite black from the chewing of betel..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 111
March 4, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word betel
another usage note on bhang
March 17, 2008