licorice

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A Mediterranean perennial plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra) of the pea family, having blue flowers, pinnately compound leaves, and a sweet, distinctively flavored root.
• noun The root of this plant, used as a flavoring in candy, liqueurs, tobacco, and medicines.
• noun Any of various similar plants.
• noun A confection made from or flavored with the licorice root.
• noun A chewy confection made from sugar and corn syrup with the addition of various flavorings, often manufactured in long flexible tubes.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A leguminous plant, Glycyrrhiza glabra, whose root yields the licorice of commerce.
• noun An economic product, either the root of this plant or an extract from it.
• noun The plant also called rest-harrow, Ononis arvensis. Its root is used by children in place of licorice.
• noun In America, a member of the true licorice genus, Glycyrrhiza lepidota, found chiefly far north-west; also, Galium circæzans and G. lanceolatum, on account of a sweetish root.
• noun In Australia, Teucrium corymbosum, a sort of germander.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Glycyrrhiza (Glycyrrhiza glabra), the root of which abounds with a sweet juice, and is much used in demulcent compositions.
• noun The inspissated juice of licorice root, used as a confection and for medicinal purposes.
• noun (Bot.) a name of several kinds of polypody which have rootstocks of a sweetish flavor.
• noun (Chem.) See Glycyrrhizin.
• noun (Bot.) the tropical plant Scapania dulcis.
• noun (Bot.) a kind of clover (Trifolium alpinum), found in the Alps. It has large purplish flowers and a sweetish perennial rootstock.
• noun (Bot.) The leguminous climber Abrus precatorius, whose scarlet and black seeds are called black-eyed Susans. Its roots are used as a substitute for those of true licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The plant Glycyrrhiza glabra, or sometimes in North America the related American Licorice plant Glycyrrhiza lepidota.
• noun A type of candy made from that plant's dried root or its extract.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a black candy flavored with the dried root of the licorice plant
• noun deep-rooted coarse-textured plant native to the Mediterranean region having blue flowers and pinnately compound leaves; widely cultivated in Europe for its long thick sweet roots