squirting cucumber

noun

1. a Mediterranean plant, Ecballium elaterium, of the gourd family, whose ripened fruit forcibly ejects the seeds and juice.

squirting cucumber

noun

1. a hairy cucurbitaceous plant, Ecballium elaterium , of the Mediterranean region, having a fruit that discharges its seeds explosively when ripe

Word History and Origins

Origin of squirting cucumber¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

A team led by the University of Oxford has solved a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries: how does the squirting cucumber squirt?

From Science Daily

ELATERIUM, a drug consisting of a sediment deposited by the juice of the fruit of Ecballium Elaterium, the squirting cucumber, a native of the Mediterranean region.

From Project Gutenberg

Of course, you know my friend the squirting cucumber.

From Project Gutenberg

Elaterium, a drug obtained from the mucus of the fruit of the squirting cucumber; is a most powerful purgative, and was known to the ancients.

From Project Gutenberg

Amid the wayside rubbish grows one of the gourd family, Ecbalium elaterium, commonly called the squirting cucumber, whose fruit—a rough and extremely bitter little cucumber—is the size of a date. 

From Project Gutenberg