wormseed

[ wurm-seed ]

noun
  1. the dried, unexpanded flower heads of a wormwood, Artemisia cina(Levant wormseed ), or the fruit of certain goosefoots, especially Chenopodium anthelminticum (or C. ambrosioides), the Mexican tea or American wormseed, used as an anthelmintic drug.

  2. any of these plants.

Origin of wormseed

1
First recorded in 1350–1400, wormseed is from the Middle English word wyrmsed.See worm, seed

Words Nearby wormseed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wormseed in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wormseed

wormseed

/ (ˈwɜːmˌsiːd) /


noun
  1. any of various plants having seeds or other parts used in medicine to treat worm infestation, esp an American chenopodiaceous plant, Chenopodium anthelminticum (or C. ambrosioides) (American wormseed), and the santonica plant

  2. the part of any of these plants that is used as an anthelmintic

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