Sham·rock n.  Bot. A trifoliate plant used as a national emblem by the Irish. The legend is that St. Patrick once plucked a leaf of it for use in illustrating the doctrine of the trinity.
 Note: ☞ The original plant was probably a kind of wood sorrel (Oxalis Acetocella); but now the name is given to the white clover (Trifolium repens), and the black medic (Medicago lupulina).
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 Clo·ver n.  Bot. A plant of different species of the genus Trifolium; as the common red clover, Trifolium pratense, the white, Trifolium repens, and the hare's foot, Trifolium arvense.
 Clover weevil Zool. a small weevil (Apion apricans), that destroys the seeds of clover.
 Clover worm Zool., the larva of a small moth (Asopia costalis), often very destructive to clover hay.
 In clover, in very pleasant circumstances; fortunate. [Colloq.]
 Sweet clover. See Meliot.
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 Dutch a.  Pertaining to Holland, or to its inhabitants.
 Dutch auction. See under Auction.
 Dutch cheese, a small, pound, hard cheese, made from skim milk.
 Dutch clinker, a kind of brick made in Holland. It is yellowish, very hard, and long and narrow in shape.
 Dutch clover Bot., common white clover (Trifolium repens), the seed of which was largely imported into England from Holland.
 Dutch concert, a so-called concert in which all the singers sing at the same time different songs. [Slang]
 Dutch courage, the courage of partial intoxication. [Slang] --Marryat.
 Dutch door, a door divided into two parts, horizontally, so arranged that the lower part can be shut and fastened, while the upper part remains open.
 Dutch foil, Dutch leaf, or Dutch gold, a kind of brass rich in copper, rolled or beaten into thin sheets, used in Holland to ornament toys and paper; -- called also Dutch mineral, Dutch metal, brass foil, and bronze leaf.
 Dutch liquid Chem., a thin, colorless, volatile liquid, C2H4Cl2, of a sweetish taste and a pleasant ethereal odor, produced by the union of chlorine and ethylene or olefiant gas; -- called also Dutch oil. It is so called because discovered (in 1795) by an association of four Hollandish chemists. See Ethylene, and Olefiant.
 Dutch oven, a tin screen for baking before an open fire or kitchen range; also, in the United States, a shallow iron kettle for baking, with a cover to hold burning coals.
 Dutch pink, chalk, or whiting dyed yellow, and used in distemper, and for paper staining. etc. --Weale.
 Dutch rush Bot., a species of horsetail rush or Equisetum (Equisetum hyemale) having a rough, siliceous surface, and used for scouring and polishing; -- called also scouring rush, and shave grass. See Equisetum.
 Dutch tile, a glazed and painted ornamental tile, formerly much exported, and used in the jambs of chimneys and the like.
 Note: ☞ Dutch was formerly used for German.
    Germany is slandered to have sent none to this war [the Crusades] at this first voyage; and that other pilgrims, passing through that country, were mocked by the Dutch, and called fools for their pains.   --Fuller.
 Trifolium repens
      n : creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and
          bright green leaves; naturalized in United States; widely
          grown for forage [syn: white clover, dutch clover, shamrock]