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horehound

or hoar·hound

[hawr-hound, hohr-]
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noun
  1. an Old World plant, Marrubium vulgare, of the mint family, having downy leaves and small, whitish flowers, and containing a bitter, medicinal juice that is used as an expectorant, vermifuge, and laxative.
  2. any of various plants of the mint family.
  3. a brittle candy or lozenge flavored with horehound extract.
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Origin of horehound

before 1000; Middle English horehune, Old English hārhūne, equivalent to hār gray, hoar + hūne horehound
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

lozengehorehoundpastilpastilletroche

Examples from the Web for horehound

Historical Examples

  • If you do not wish it to be very strong of horehound don't use quite so much.

    Candy-Making at Home

    Mary M. Wright

  • The sede is blak and groweth about the stalk, certayn places goyng betwene, as we se in horehound.

  • One very remarkable minor feature was the appearance of couch-grass and horehound, which had sprung up around the stockyards.

  • It proved to be a kind of essence of horehound, of notable tartness and pungency, very like a powerful cough syrup.

    Plum Pudding

    Christopher Morley

  • To protect one's self against the allurements of these accursed fairies, a bit of horehound or marjoram is sufficient.

    Myths of the Rhine

    X. B. Saintine

British Dictionary definitions for horehound

horehound

hoarhound

noun
  1. Also called: white horehound a downy perennial herbaceous Old World plant, Marrubium vulgare, with small white flowers that contain a bitter juice formerly used as a cough medicine and flavouring: family Lamiaceae (labiates)See also black horehound
  2. water horehound another name for bugleweed (def. 1)
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Word Origin

Old English hārhūne, from hār grey + hūne horehound, 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
horehound in Medicine

horehound

(hôr′hound′)
n.
  1. An aromatic Eurasian plant whose leaves yield a bitter extract that is used as a cough remedy.
  2. A candy or preparation flavored with this extract.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.