cowage

or cow·hage, cow·itch

[kou-ij]

noun

a tropical vine, Mucuna pruriens, of the legume family, bearing reddish or blackish pods.
the pod itself, covered with bristlelike hairs that are irritating to the skin and cause intense itching.
the hairs of the cowage mixed with a liquid vehicle and used to expel intestinal worms.

Origin of cowage

1630–40; < Hindi kãũch, kēvā̃c (compare kavac any husk or pod), reshaped in E by folk etymology

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cowage

Historical Examples of cowage

Its houses roofless, their walls crumbled, are scarcely seen beneath the thick green carpet of convolvulus, and cowage (mecuna).
The Mayas, the Sources of Their History / Dr. Le Plongeon in Yucatan, His Account of Discoveries
Stephen Salisbury, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for cowage

cowage

cowhage

noun

a tropical climbing leguminous plant, Stizolobium (or Mucuna) pruriens, whose bristly pods cause severe itching and stinging
the pods of this plant or the stinging hairs covering them

Word Origin for cowage

C17: from Hindi kavāch, of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012