colocynth

American  

[kol-uh-sinth] / ˈkɒl ə sɪnθ /

noun

1. a plant, Citrullus colocynthis, belonging to the gourd family, of the warmer parts of Asia, the Mediterranean region, etc., bearing a round, yellow or green fruit with a bitter pulp.

2. the fruit of this plant.

3. Pharmacology.  the drug derived from the pulp of the unripe but full-grown fruit of this plant, used in medicine chiefly as a purgative.

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colocynth British  

/ ˈkɒləsɪnθ /

noun

1. a cucurbitaceous climbing plant, Citrullus colocynthis, of the Mediterranean region and Asia, having bitter-tasting fruit

2. the dried fruit pulp of this plant, used as a strong purgative

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Etymology

Origin of colocynth

1555–65; < Latin colocynthis < Greek kolokynthís, variant of kolókyntha bitter gourd, bitter cucumber

Example Sentences

Aloes are, perhaps, the best, combined with colocynth; the dose will vary with the size of the animal.

From Project Gutenberg

It is a dead flat of uninhabited earth; orange colocynth balls, a little wormwood, and some alkaline plants which camels eat, being its chief products.

From Project Gutenberg

Apricot oil in the Himalayas, sunflower oil, oil of cucumber-seed for cooking and lamps, oil of colocynth seed, a lamp oil.

From Project Gutenberg

It is impossible to make any description, either of the most pleasant or of the most unpleasant, of the raspberry or of colocynth.

From Project Gutenberg