barb-asco

noun, plural bar·bas·cos.

a shrub or small tree, Jacquinia barbasco, of tropical America, the source of a substance used to stun fish so they can be caught easily.

any similar plant yielding a substance that stuns or kills fish.

the fish-stunning or fish-killing substance obtained from these plants.

Origin:
1855–60; < American Spanish, said to be alteration of verbasco mullein < Latin verbascum

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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WordNet

barbasco
noun
West Indian shrub or small tree having leathery saponaceous leaves and extremely hard wood

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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00:10

Barb-asco is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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