jimson weed

[ jim-suhn ]

noun
  1. a coarse, rank-smelling weed, Datura stramonium, of the nightshade family, having oaklike, poisonous leaves and tubular white or lavender flowers.

Origin of jimson weed

1
1805–15, Americanism; variant of Jamestown weed, after Jamestown, Virginia
  • Also jimpson weed [jimp-suhn], /ˈdʒɪmp sən/, Jimson weed .

Words Nearby jimson weed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use jimson weed in a sentence

  • The ordinary jimson weed grew so large that each blossom looked like a great white lily.

    The Camp Fire Girls Behind the Lines | Margaret O'Bannon Womack Vandercook
  • The jimson weed on the Pacific coast of the Andes has large white flowers which exhale a faint, repulsive odor.

    The Social Gangster | Arthur B. Reeve
  • I think it must be some particularly virulent variety of the jimson weed.

    The Social Gangster | Arthur B. Reeve
  • The jimson weed (Datura) is a bushy plant, from two to five feet high, bearing large leaves.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • When the clothes are washed and ready to boil, pin jimson weed leaves upon the place.

British Dictionary definitions for jimson weed

jimson weed

/ (ˈdʒɪmsən) /


noun
  1. US and Canadian a poisonous solanaceous plant, Datura stramonium, of the N hemisphere, having white funnel-shaped flowers and spiny capsule fruits: Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): thorn apple

Origin of jimson weed

1
C17: from earlier Jamestown weed, from Jamestown, Virginia

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