Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several vines of the closely related genera Cocculus and Menispermum, having small flowers and red or blackish fruit with crescent-shaped seeds.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A plant of the genus Menispermum.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) A climbing plant of the genus Menispermum; -- so called from the crescentlike form of the seeds.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun botany A
twining plant of thegenus Menispermum,eponymous of the Menispermae or moonseed family
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun plant of the family Menispermaceae having red or black fruit with crescent- or ring-shaped seeds
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The Dakota dug the yellow root of the moonseed plant for medicinal purposes, for healing.
New Lit Mag: Yellow Medicine Review Denise 2007
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If there had even been a false hope that a nanotech antidote or something to stop the moonseed could be discovered, then I would be more willing to become emotionally attached to the characters and scenery that is being destroyed.
Moonseed by Stephen Baxter patternjuggler 2005
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If there had even been a false hope that a nanotech antidote or something to stop the moonseed could be discovered, then I would be more willing to become emotionally attached to the characters and scenery that is being destroyed.
Archive 2005-12-17 patternjuggler 2005
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He also collected Chondrodendron iquitanum, one of the curare plants brought back from the Canelos Quichua by Richard Gill, as well as two species of Abuta, a related genus in the moonseed family.
One River Wade Davis 1996
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In the western Amazon, however, virtually every report suggested that arrow poisons were made from species of Chondrodendron and related genera in the moonseed family.
One River Wade Davis 1996
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He also collected Chondrodendron iquitanum, one of the curare plants brought back from the Canelos Quichua by Richard Gill, as well as two species of Abuta, a related genus in the moonseed family.
One River Wade Davis 1996
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In the western Amazon, however, virtually every report suggested that arrow poisons were made from species of Chondrodendron and related genera in the moonseed family.
One River Wade Davis 1996
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When she finished she picked up a trailing vine of moonseed.
The Harvester 1911
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You see it on cultivated plums, grapes, and apples, but never in any such perfection as on moonseed and black haws in the woods.
The Harvester 1911
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She learned the uses and prices of the plant, and also made drawings of cohosh, moonseed and bloodroot.
The Harvester 1911
bilby commented on the word moonseed
"The seeds of this Eastern North American drupe (stone fruit) are extremely toxic to humans, although birds can eat them. Moonseeds first cause paralysis but are fatal in larger doses and/or if treatment is not sought immediately."
- 'Cute Killers: 16 Unassuming-but-Lethal Poison Plants', webecoist.com, 16 Sep 2008.
October 4, 2008