DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
bitter gourd
苦瓜
Bit·ter a.
1. Having a peculiar, acrid, biting taste, like that of wormwood or an infusion of hops; as, a bitter medicine; bitter as aloes.
2. Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe; as, a bitter cold day.
3. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind; calamitous; poignant.
It is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God. --Jer. ii. 19.
4. Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh; stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach.
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. --Col. iii. 19.
5. Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.
The Egyptians . . . made their lives bitter with hard bondage. --Ex. i. 14.
Bitter apple, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd. Bot. See Colocynth.
Bitter cress Bot., a plant of the genus Cardamine, esp. Cardamine amara.
Bitter earth Min., tale earth; calcined magnesia.
Bitter principles Chem., a class of substances, extracted from vegetable products, having strong bitter taste but with no sharply defined chemical characteristics.
Bitter salt, Epsom salts; magnesium sulphate.
Bitter vetch Bot., a name given to two European leguminous herbs, Vicia Orobus and Ervum Ervilia.
To the bitter end, to the last extremity, however calamitous.
Syn: -- Acrid; sharp; harsh; pungent; stinging; cutting; severe; acrimonious.
Col·ocynth n. Med. The light spongy pulp of the fruit of the bitter cucumber (Citrullus colocynthis, or Cucumis colocynthis), an Asiatic plant allied to the watermelon; coloquintida. It comes in white balls, is intensely bitter, and a powerful cathartic. Called also bitter apple, bitter cucumber, bitter gourd.
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Gourd n.
1. Bot. A fleshy, three-celled, many-seeded fruit, as the melon, pumpkin, cucumber, etc., of the order Cucurbitaceæ; and especially the bottle gourd (Lagenaria vulgaris) which occurs in a great variety of forms, and, when the interior part is removed, serves for bottles, dippers, cups, and other dishes.
2. A dipper or other vessel made from the shell of a gourd; hence, a drinking vessel; a bottle.
Bitter gourd, colocynth.