Showing results for cancerroot. Search instead for canrrrt.

cancerroot

American

[kan-ser-root, -root] / ˈkæn sərˌrut, -ˌrʊt /

noun

any parasitic plant of the genus Orobanche, especially O. uniflora, of North America, having pale, leafless stalks bearing a single white or purplish flower.

1705–15; cancer + root ¹; so called from its folk-medicinal use in treating cancerous growths

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023