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Job's-tears
[ johbz-teerz ]
noun
- (used with a plural verb) the hard, nearly spherical bracts that surround the female flowers of an Asian grass, Coix lacryma-jobi, and which when ripe are used as beads.
- (used with a singular verb) the grass itself.
Job's-tears
noun
- functioning as singular a tropical Asian grass, Coix lacryma-jobi , cultivated for its white beadlike modified leaves, which contain edible seeds
- functioning as plural the beadlike structures of this plant, used as rosary or ornamental beads
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Word History and Origins
Origin of Job's-tears1
First recorded in 1590–1600
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