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?

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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.

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Of course, you know my friend the squirting cucumber.

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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.

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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. 

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