Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
tobacco - 5 dictionary results

to⋅bac⋅co

  [tuh-bak-oh]
Use tobacco in a Sentence
–noun, plural -cos, -coes.
1. any of several plants belonging to the genus Nicotiana, of the nightshade family, esp. one of those species, as N. tabacum, whose leaves are prepared for smoking or chewing or as snuff.
2. the prepared leaves, as used in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.
3. any product or products made from such leaves.
4. any of various similar plants of other genera.
Origin:
1525–35; < Sp tabaco, perh. < Arawak: a pipe for smoking the plant, or roll of leaves smoked, or the plant

Related forms:
to⋅bac⋅co⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tobacco
to·bac·co   (tə-bāk'ō)   
n.   pl. to·bac·cos or to·bac·coes
  1. Any of various plants of the genus Nicotiana, especially N. tabacum, native to tropical America and widely cultivated for their leaves, which are used primarily for smoking.
  2. The leaves of these plants, dried and processed chiefly for use in cigarettes, cigars, or snuff or for smoking in pipes.
  3. Products made from these plants.
  4. The habit of smoking tobacco: I gave up tobacco.
  5. A crop of tobacco.

[Spanish tabaco, possibly of Caribbean origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Tobacco

To*bac"co\, n. [Sp. tabaco, fr. the Indian tabaco the tube or pipe in which the Indians or Caribbees smoked this plant. Some derive the word from Tabaco, a province of Yucatan, where it was said to be first found by the Spaniards; others from the island of Tobago, one of the Caribbees. But these derivations are very doubtful.]

1. (Bot.) An American plant (Nicotiana Tabacum) of the Nightshade family, much used for smoking and chewing, and as snuff. As a medicine, it is narcotic, emetic, and cathartic. Tobacco has a strong, peculiar smell, and an acrid taste.

Note: The name is extended to other species of the genus, and to some unrelated plants, as Indian tobacco (Nicotiana rustica, and also Lobelia inflata), mountain tobacco (Arnica montana), and Shiraz tobacco (Nicotiana Persica).

2. The leaves of the plant prepared for smoking, chewing, etc., by being dried, cured, and manufactured in various ways.

Tobacco box (Zo["o]l.), the common American skate.

Tobacco camphor. (Chem.) See Nicotianine.

Tobacco man, a tobacconist. [R.]

Tobacco pipe. (a) A pipe used for smoking, made of baked clay, wood, or other material. (b) (Bot.) Same as Indian pipe, under Indian.

Tobacco-pipe clay (Min.), a species of clay used in making tobacco pipes; -- called also cimolite.

Tobacco-pipe fish. (Zo["o]l.) See Pipemouth.

Tobacco stopper, a small plug for pressing down the tobacco in a pipe as it is smoked.

Tobacco worm (Zo["o]l.), the larva of a large hawk moth (Sphinx, or Phlegethontius, Carolina). It is dark green, with seven oblique white stripes bordered above with dark brown on each side of the body. It feeds upon the leaves of tobacco and tomato plants, and is often very injurious to the tobacco crop. See Illust. of Hawk moth.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : tobacco
Spanish: tabaco,
German: der Tabak,
Japanese: 煙草の葉
More Translations »

tobacco 
1588, from Sp. tabaco, in part from an Arawakan (probably Taino) language of the Caribbean, said to mean "a roll of tobacco leaves" (according to Las Casas, 1552) or "a kind of pipe for smoking tobacco" (according to Oviedo, 1535). Scholars of Caribbean languages lean toward Las Casas' explanation. But Sp. tabaco (also It. tabacco) was a name of medicinal herbs from c.1410, from Arabic tabbaq, attested since 9c. as the name of various herbs. So the word may be a European one transferred to an American plant. Cultivation in France began 1556 with an importation of seed by Andre Thevet; introduced in Spain 1558 by Francisco Fernandes. Tobacco Road as a mythical place representative of rural Southern U.S. poverty is from the title of Erskine Caldwell's 1932 novel.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Main Entry: to·bac·co
Pronunciation: t&-'bak-(")O
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -cos
1 : any plant ofthe genus Nicotiana; especially : an annual So. American herb (N. tabacum) cultivated for its leaves
2 : the leaves of cultivated tobacco prepared foruse in smoking or chewing or as snuff
3 : manufactured products of tobacco; also : the use of tobacco as a practice
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see tobacco on Thesaurus | Reference