nipplewort

[nip-uhl-wurt, -wawrt]

noun

1. a yellow-flowered plant, Lapsana communis, found in woods and on wasteland.

nipplewort

/ ˈnɪpəlˌwɜːt /

noun

1. an annual Eurasian plant, Lapsana communis, with pointed oval leaves and small yellow flower heads: family Asteraceae (composites)

Word History and Origins

Origin of nipplewort¹

First recorded in 1640–50; nipple ( def. ) + wort ² ( def. ) (from its use in folk medicine to treat ulcerations on nipples)

Example Sentences

Just within a couple of yards of the water’s edge, the species are abundant, the nomenclature mellifluous: buttercup, foxglove, leopard’s bane, nipplewort, forget-me-not, large-leaf aven, fringe cup, sticky willy.

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“One imagines someone waking up in the middle of the night, putting on their dressing gown and then bending over in the garden and smelling the nipplewort and then saying, ‘Wow, it’s late.’

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Some, like “liverwort,” “bloodroot,” “rattlesnake plantain” or even “nipplewort,” leave little to the imagination.

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My dear child," said John, "when you were an infant-in-arms, nay, before you existed at all, it was my custom to ramble o'er the dewy meads, plucking the nimble Nipplewort and the shy Speedwell.

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Nipplewort - - - Lapsana communis.

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