colchicum
Americannoun
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any Old World plant of the genus Colchicum, of the lily family, especially the autumn crocus, C. autumnale.
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the dried seeds or corms of this plant.
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Pharmacology. a medicine or drug prepared from them, used in medicine chiefly in the treatment of gout.
noun
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any Eurasian liliaceous plant of the genus Colchicum, such as the autumn crocus
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the dried seeds or corms of the autumn crocus: a source of colchicine
Etymology
Origin of colchicum
1590–1600; < New Latin, Latin < Greek kolchikón meadow saffron, noun use of neuter of Kolchikós of Colchis, apparently by association with Medea, the plant being considered poisonous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If I had the gout, there was no colchicum.
From Sydney Smith by Russell, George William Erskine
Some cases, like rheumatism, are benefited by 1-scruple doses of powdered colchicum and 2-dram doses of salicylate of soda twice a day.
From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Michener, Charles B.
In colchicum poisoning, empty the stomach, give white of egg, olive or salad oil, and water.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various
These assertions, and the total inadequacy of the pharmacology of colchicum, as above detailed, to explain its specific therapeutic property, show that the secret of colchicum is as yet undiscovered.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various
Every fresh speech of Gladstone gives me a fresh seizure, and his last 'bunkum' at Aberdeen has cost me a pint of colchicum.
From Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. II by Downey, Edmund
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
