barbasco

[ bahr-bas-koh, -bah-skoh ]

/ bɑrˈbæs koʊ, -ˈbɑ skoʊ /

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noun, plural bar·bas·cos.

a shrub or small tree, Jacquinia barbasco, of tropical America, the source of a substance used to stun fish so they can be caught easily.

any similar plant yielding a substance that stuns or kills fish.

the fish-stunning or fish-killing substance obtained from these plants.

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Origin of barbasco

First recorded in 1855–60; from Latin American Spanish, said to be alteration of verbasco “mullein,” from Latin verbascum

Words nearby barbasco

Barbary Coast, Barbary Coast Wars, Barbary fig, Barbary sheep, Barbary States, barbasco, barbastelle, barbate, barb bolt, barbe, barbecue

How to use barbasco in a sentence

The Savanerics poison pools with pounded leaves of the barbasco, and thus obtain fish without much labor.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1|Hubert Howe Bancroft
They catch fish with bone hooks, seines, spears, and by poisoning the water with barbasco.
The Andes and the Amazon|James Orton