Indian tobacco

American  

noun

1. a common American plant, Lobelia inflata, of the lobelia family, having small, blue flowers and inflated capsules.

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Indian tobacco British  

noun

1. a poisonous North American campanulaceous plant, Lobelia inflata, with small pale blue flowers and rounded inflated seed capsules

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Etymology

Origin of Indian tobacco

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

The intelligence wing of India's home ministry last year drafted a note on Bloomberg Philanthropies, raising concerns that the foundation was running a campaign to "target" Indian tobacco businesses and "aggressively" lobby against the sector.

From Reuters

Indian tobacco and real estate mogul Mohammed Nisham was sentenced to life in prison for murder Thursday after he drove his Hummer into a security guard before brutally beating him with a metal rod.

From Time

In the 1990s, she began working with lobeline, a compound derived from a group of plants, including Lobelia inflata, commonly known as Indian tobacco.

From Nature

The Indian tobacco lobby objected to the new regulations, and in 2005, the Bombay High Court granted a stay on the enforcement of the law.

From New York Times

He conducted a series of experimental investigations in which he searched for and isolated the specific microbes found in the best West Indian tobacco.

From Project Gutenberg