white hellebore

[ hwahyt hel-uh-bawr, wahyt ]

noun

1. a false hellebore, Veratrum album, with clusters of white flowers, native to Europe and western Asia: now rarely used in medicine, its alkaloids were once used in a number of treatments, as for high blood pressure, but accidental poisoning is due mostly to the plant’s resemblance to an ingestible European gentian.

Word History and Origins

Origin of white hellebore¹

First recorded in 1400–50

Example Sentences

Vomits of white hellebore or antimony, and purges of black hellebore or aloes, are prescribed.

From Project Gutenberg

Dr. Handel recommends wash22ing the eyes, when disposed to blindness, with an infusion of the root of white hellebore.

From Project Gutenberg

For instance, they used white hellebore to cure their wounds, and John Josselyn tells us exactly how.

From Project Gutenberg

Take the brain—we have a disease, and we treat it with white hellebore.

From Project Gutenberg

If this does not prove efficacious, dust the under side of the leaves with white hellebore in a powder gun.

From Project Gutenberg