vomica
Americannoun
plural
vomicae-
a cavity, usually in the lungs, containing pus.
-
the pus content of such a cavity.
Etymology
Origin of vomica
1565–75; < Latin: a boil, ulcer, equivalent to vom ( ere ) to discharge ( vomit ) + -ica, feminine of -icus -ic
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.
It had a dose of nux vomica strong enough to kill a horse.
From Literature
Other products included belladonna and nux vomica, which contains strychnine — a well-known poison used to kill rodents.
From Washington Times
I lingered over a case of vintage pharmaceuticals that included a vial of something called nux vomica and another labeled “endocroids.”
From Washington Post
Strychnine, made from the seeds of the south-east Asian Nux vomica tree, was equally fashionable, as – in the Middle Ages – was atropine, aka belladonna or deadly nightshade: the juice of a few berries could be lethal.
From The Guardian
Popcast listeners: meet Michael Robbins, who talks about his essay in the May 2014 issue of Harper’s, “Destroy Your Safe and Happy Lives: A Poet’s Guide to Metal”; a few of his favorite recent metal tracks of 2014, from Behemoth’s “The Satanist,” Nux Vomica’s self-titled album, and Pallbearer’s forthcoming “Foundations of Burden”; the welcoming, legible rock band inside many forbidding, obscurely coded metal bands; and punk and metal as position and disposition.
From New York Times
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.