selfheal
Americannoun
-
a plant, Prunella vulgaris, of the mint family, having pinnate leaves and tubular violet-blue flowers, formerly believed to have healing properties.
-
any of various other plants believed to have similar properties.
noun
-
a low-growing European herbaceous plant, Prunella vulgaris, with tightly clustered violet-blue flowers and reputedly having healing powers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
-
any of several other plants thought to have healing powers
Etymology
Origin of selfheal
First recorded in 1350–1400, selfheal is from the Middle English word selfhele. See self, heal
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I found myself leaning into a strong breeze pushing across the moor, shaking the hairgrass and ruffling the yarrow and selfheal growing prettily against a long drystone wall that bordered the trail and offered me some shelter.
From The Guardian
Try cutting every three or four weeks and let dandelions, daisies and violets bloom in spring, followed by buttercups, clovers and selfheal in summer.
From The Guardian
Nature had the most extraordinary ability to selfheal – but it only works if humans are prepared to meet it halfway.
From Newsweek
In the grass the short selfheal shows; and, leaning over the gate, on the edge of the wheat you may see the curious prickly seed-vessels of the corn buttercup—the 'hedgehog'—whose spines, however, will not scratch the softest skin.
From Project Gutenberg
Several Herbal Simples go by the name of Selfheal among our wild hedge plants, more especially the Sanicle, the common Prunella, and the Bugle.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.