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calabar bean

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Calabar bean

 
Use calabar bean in a Sentence
–noun
the violently poisonous seed of an African climbing plant, Physostigma venenosum, of the legume family, the active principle of which is physostigmine.
Also called ordeal bean.

Origin:
1875–80; named after Calabar, Nigeria
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cal·a·bar bean   (kāl'ə-bär)   
n.  The poisonous seed of a tropical western African woody vine (Physostigma venenosum) in the pea family, which has been used as an ordeal poison and is the source of the drug physostigmine. Also called ordeal bean.

[After Calabar, a town of southeast Nigeria.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: Cal·a·bar bean
Pronunciation: 'kal-&-"bär-
Function: noun
: the dark brown poisonous seed of a tropical African woody vineof the genus Physostigma (P. venenosum) that is used as a source of physostigmine
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Calabar bean Cal·a·bar bean (kāl'ə-bär)
n.
The poisonous seed of a tropical western African woody vine in the pea family and source of the drug physostigmine.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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