mescal button

American  

noun

1. one of the dried, buttonlike tops of a mescal of the genus Lophophora, used as a hallucinogen, especially by certain Indians of Mexico and the southwestern U.S. during religious ceremonies; peyote.

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Etymology

Origin of mescal button

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Mrs. A. B. Nickels reports that the Indians use the plants in manufacturing an intoxicating drink, also for "breaking fevers," and that the tops cut off and dried are called "mescal buttons."

From Project Gutenberg