scurvy grass

American  

noun

1. a plant, Cochlearia officinalis, of the mustard family, purported to be a remedy for scurvy.

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scurvy grass British  

noun

1. any of various plants of the genus Cochlearia, esp C. officinalis, of Europe and North America, formerly used to treat scurvy: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

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Etymology

Origin of scurvy grass

First recorded in 1590–1600

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scurvy grass

He therefore, directed his course towards Palmerston Island, where he arrived on the 14th of April, and where he found birds in abundance, scurvy grass, and cocoa-nuts.

From Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century by Léon Benett

Under ordinary circumstances he would merely have had to drive away feathered pilferers, such as guillemots or puffins, from his sorrel and scurvy grass.

From The Fur Country Seventy Degrees North Latitude by N. D'Anvers

Led by the doctor, Brown, Jim, and I started to explore the neighbourhood, to collect scurvy grass or roots of any sort which might serve as vegetables.

From Peter Trawl The Adventures of a Whaler by James Durden

The celery was a treat indeed, and the scurvy grass proved of incalculable benefit in restoring those of our men who had shown symptoms of disease.

From The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3 by Edgar Allan Poe

They found here, too, what was more valuable—the scurvy grass.

From North-Pole Voyages by Zachariah Atwell Mudge

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