Job's-tears
Americannoun
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(used with a plural verb) the hard, nearly spherical bracts that surround the female flowers of an Asian grass, Coix lacryma-jobi, and which when ripe are used as beads.
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(used with a singular verb) the grass itself.
noun
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(functioning as singular) a tropical Asian grass, Coix lacryma-jobi , cultivated for its white beadlike modified leaves, which contain edible seeds
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(functioning as plural) the beadlike structures of this plant, used as rosary or ornamental beads
Etymology
Origin of Job's-tears
First recorded in 1590–1600
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The possessive case and its governing noun, combining to form a metaphorical name, should be written with both apostrophe and hyphen; as, Job's-tears, Jew's-ear, bear's-foot, colts-tooth, sheep's-head, crane's-bill, crab's-eyes, hound's-tongue, king's-spear, lady's-slipper, lady's-bedstraw, &c.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
