Worm·wood n.
1. Bot. A composite plant (Artemisia Absinthium), having a bitter and slightly aromatic taste, formerly used as a tonic and a vermifuge, and to protect woolen garments from moths. It gives the peculiar flavor to the cordial called absinthe. The volatile oil is a narcotic poison. The term is often extended to other species of the same genus.
2. Anything very bitter or grievous; bitterness.
Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood. --Deut. xxix. 18.
Roman wormwood Bot., an American weed (Ambrosia artemisiaefolia); hogweed.
Tree wormwood Bot., a species of Artemisia (probably Artemisia variabilis) with woody stems.
Wormwood hare Zool., a variety of the common hare (Lepus timidus); -- so named from its color.
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Roman wormwood
n 1: European wormwood; minor source of absinthe [syn: Artemis
pontica]
2: glaucous herb of northeastern United States and Canada
having loose racemes of yellow-tipped pink flowers;
sometimes placed in genus Fumaria [syn: rock harlequin,
Corydalis sempervirens, Fumaria sempervirens]