DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 man·drake n.
 1. Bot. A low plant (Mandragora officinarum) of the Nightshade family, having a fleshy root, often forked, and supposed to resemble a man.  It was therefore supposed to have animal life, and to cry out when pulled up.  All parts of the plant are strongly narcotic.  It is found in the Mediterranean region.
 And shrieks like mandrakes, torn out of the earth,
 That living mortals, hearing them, run mad.   --Shak.
 Note: ☞ The mandrake of Scripture was perhaps the same plant, but proof is wanting.
 2. Bot. The May apple (Podophyllum peltatum). See May apple under May, and Podophyllum. [U.S.]
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 May, n.
 1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
 2. The early part or springtime of life.
    His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood.   --Shak.
 3. Bot. The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
    The palm and may make country houses gay.   --Nash.
    Plumes that mocked the may.   --Tennyson.
 4. The merrymaking of May Day.
 Italian may Bot., a shrubby species of Spiraea (Spiraea hypericifolia) with many clusters of small white flowers along the slender branches.
 May apple Bot., the fruit of an American plant (Podophyllum peltatum). Also, the plant itself (popularly called mandrake), which has two lobed leaves, and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.
 May beetle, May bug Zool., any one of numerous species of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the winged state in May.  They belong to Melolontha, and allied genera.  Called also June beetle.
 May Day, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a garland, and by dancing about a May pole.
 May dew, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which magical properties were attributed.
 May flower Bot., a plant that flowers in May; also, its blossom. See Mayflower, in the vocabulary.
 May fly Zool., any species of Ephemera, and allied genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many species appear in May. See Ephemeral fly, under Ephemeral.
 May game, any May-day sport.
 May lady, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.
 May lily Bot., the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis).
 May pole. See Maypole in the Vocabulary.
 May queen, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the sports of May Day.
 May thorn, the hawthorn.
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 Pod·o·phyl·lin n.  Chem. A brown bitter gum extracted from the rootstalk of the May apple (Podophyllum peltatum). It is a complex mixture of several substances.
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 Pod·o·phyl·lum n.
 1. Bot. A genus of herbs of the Barberry family, having large palmately lobed peltate leaves and solitary flower.  There are two species, the American Podophyllum peltatum, or May apple, the Himalayan Podophyllum Emodi.
 2. Med. The rhizome and rootlet of the May apple (Podophyllum peltatum), -- used as a cathartic drug.
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 Duck's-foot n. Bot. The May apple (Podophyllum peltatum).
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 Podophyllum peltatum
      n : North American herb with poisonous root stock and edible
          though insipid fruit [syn: mayapple, May apple, wild
          mandrake]