toothache tree

American

noun

prickly ash.

toothache tree British

noun

another name for prickly ash

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of toothache tree

An Americanism dating back to 1720–30

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.

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

Like I’d chewed the bark from a toothache tree and it had made me dizzy.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023