nightshade

[ nahyt-sheyd ]

/ ˈnaɪtˌʃeɪd /

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noun

any of various plants of the genus Solanum, especially the black nightshade or the bittersweet.

any of various other related plants, as the deadly nightshade.

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Origin of nightshade

before 1000; Middle English; Old English nihtscada.See night, shade

Words nearby nightshade

night robe, nights, night safe, nightscape, night school, nightshade, nightshade family, night shift, nightshirt, nightside, night-sky light

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

How to use nightshade in a sentence

An alkaloid discovered by Brandes in atropa belladonna or deadly nightshade.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
We do not place among them that popular plant, the potato, though it has the blood of the nightshade in its veins.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 97, November, 1865|Various
Webster recrossed the woods as he had entered it, waded through the nightshade and climbed the fence under the dark tree.
The Kentucky Warbler|James Lane Allen
Some berries of several plants belonging to the nightshade family have this peculiarity, as well as some of the cucurbits.
Seed Dispersal|William J. Beal

From these grounds men have expelled the poison ivy, the deadly nightshade, all burdocks and thistles.
Right Living as a Fine Art|Newell Dwight Hillis

British Dictionary definitions for nightshade

nightshade

/ (ˈnaɪtˌʃeɪd) /

noun

any of various solanaceous plants, such as deadly nightshade, woody nightshade, and black nightshade

See enchanter's nightshade

Word Origin for nightshade

Old English nihtscada, apparently night + shade, referring to the poisonous or soporific qualities of these plants

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