cherry laurel

American  

[cher-ee lawr-uhl, lor-] / ˈtʃɛr i ˌlɔr əl, ˌlɒr- /

noun

1. Also called English laurel.  a rosaceous evergreen shrub or small tree, Prunus laurocerasus, of Eurasia, having clusters of white flowers and dark purple fruit.

2. laurel cherry.

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cherry laurel British  

noun

1. a Eurasian rosaceous evergreen shrub, Prunus laurocerasus, having glossy aromatic leaves, white flowers, and purplish-black fruits

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Etymology

Origin of cherry laurel

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

Oil of bitter almonds and cherry laurel water are poisonous in consequence of containing prussic acid.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The leaves of this plant yield the cherry laurel water of the B.P.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 643, April 28, 1888 by Various

Of the Stomach.—Take of distilled water of cherry laurel, five parts; muriate of morphia, one-tenth part.

From Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 by Burroughs, Barkham

Did you try the borax with the cherry laurel water?

From Ulysses by Joyce, James

Hislop makes it with the slightest imaginable flavor of the cherry laurel; and it is most soothing.

From The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly by Lever, Charles James