Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

mad-dog skullcap

American  
[mad-dawg, -dog] / ˈmædˌdɔg, -ˌdɒg /

noun

Botany.

  1. a North American skullcap, Scutellaria lateriflora, having underground stems and one-sided clusters of blue to white flowers.

Etymology

Origin of mad-dog skullcap

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25; so called because it was formerly used as an antispasmodic

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training