prickly ash

American  

noun

1. Also called toothache tree.  Also called Northern prickly ash,.  a citrus shrub or small tree, Zanthoxylum americanum, having aromatic leaves and usually prickly branches.

2. Hercules-club.

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prickly ash British  

noun

1. Also called: toothache tree.  a North American rutaceous shrub or small tree, Zanthoxylum americanum, having prickly branches, feathery aromatic leaves, and bark used as a remedy for toothache

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Etymology

Origin of prickly ash

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10

Example Sentences

After weeks of lockdown privation, the more iron-stomached among China’s diners craved a proper Sichuan-style hot pot, with fiery chili peppers and mouth-numbing prickly ash pods bobbing across a cauldron of red broth.

From Washington Post • Apr. 16, 2020

They’re the dried citrus berries of the prickly ash tree, and they produce sensations unlike anything you’ll experience from a standard black peppercorn.

From Washington Post • May 15, 2018

The ingredient called prickly ash in the article is more commonly known as Sichuan pepper and was, for a time, prohibited from importing to the USA because of fears it was contaminated.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2018

The prickly ash tree, Xanthoxylum, is also known as the tickle‑ tongue tree or the toothache tree because its sap or berries produce a numbing, tingling sensation when ingested.

From Scientific American • Feb. 4, 2015

Blackberry, honey locust, osage orange, and prickly ash formed in places thorny tangles almost impenetrable to humans.

From Ecological Observations on the Woodrat, Neotoma floridana by Fitch, Henry S.