cowbane

[ kou-beyn ]

noun
  1. any of several poisonous plants of the parsley family, as Oxypolis rigidior, of swampy areas of North America, or the water hemlock, Cicuta maculata.

Origin of cowbane

1
First recorded in 1770–80; cow1 + bane

Words Nearby cowbane

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How to use cowbane in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cowbane

cowbane

/ (ˈkaʊˌbeɪn) /


noun
  1. Also called: water hemlock any of several N temperate poisonous umbelliferous marsh plants of the genus Cicuta, esp C. virosa, having clusters of small white flowers

  2. a similar and related plant, Oxypolis rigidior of the southeastern and central US

  1. any umbelliferous plant reputed to be poisonous to cattle

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