upas
Americannoun
-
the poisonous milky sap of a large tree, Antiaris toxicaria, of the mulberry family, native to tropical Asia, Africa, and the Philippine Islands, used for arrow poison.
-
the tree itself.
noun
-
a large moraceous tree of Java, Antiaria toxicaria, having whitish bark and poisonous milky sap
-
the sap of this tree, used as an arrow poison
Etymology
Origin of upas
1775–85; < Javanese: poison, especially dart poison
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.
From upas to coco de mer, an arboreal odyssey.
From Nature ● Jun. 5, 2018
She had added the spreading peach of a liberal education to the deadly upas of Benson genealogy and the sturdy old chestnut of mama’s experience.
From 'Charge It' Keeping Up With Harry by Irving Bacheller
She emanated poison as nightshade emanates it, the upas tree.
From The Million Dollar Mystery Novelized from the Scenario of F. Lonergan by Harold MacGrath
The ipok called "upas" by the Malays and "antiaris toxicaria" by botanists is a tree which supplies a poisonous juice to the Sakais of the plain.
From My Friends the Savages Notes and Observations of a Perak settler (Malay Peninsula) by I. Stone Sanpietro
It was a upas tree, to be cut down; and hence he reiterated his terrible Delenda est Carthago, “Ecrasez l’Infàme”—“Destroy the monster.”
From Voltaire: A Sketch of his Life and Works by G. W. (George William) Foote
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.
