Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several deciduous shrubs or small trees of the genus Hamamelis, especially H. virginiana of eastern North America, which has delicate yellow flowers that bloom in late autumn or winter.
- noun An alcoholic solution containing an extract of the bark and leaves of this plant, applied externally as a mild astringent.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun botany Any of several small
deciduous trees , of the genusHamamelis , having yellow flowers - noun US, botany
Hamamelis virginiana (Eastern North America), especially, or Hamamelisvernalis (Ozarks). - noun medicine An
extract of thebark and/orleaves of this plant, used as anastringent
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun lotion consisting of an astringent alcoholic solution containing an extract from the witch hazel plant
- noun any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Hamamelis; bark yields an astringent lotion
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Alteration of obsolete wych, wych elm; see wych elm + hazel.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
See Middle English wiche, Old English wice ("pliant, bendable, weak")
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Examples
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chained_bear commented on the word witch hazel
A North American shrub, Hamamelis virginica; also, an extract of the leaves and bark of this shrub, used as an astringent remedy.
February 16, 2007