sarsaparilla

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

• noun Any of several tropical American plants of the genus Smilax, having fragrant roots used as a flavoring.
• noun The dried roots of any of these plants.
• noun A carbonated soft drink flavored with extracts of certain plant roots or with artificial flavorings having a similar flavor.
• noun Either of two North American plants (Aralia hispida or A. nudicaulis) having umbels of small white flowers and bipinnately compound leaves.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Hardenbergia monophylla. See Hardenbergia.
• noun The rhizome of several plants of the genus Smilax, chiefly, it is believed, of S. medica, S. officinalis, and S. papyracea, all of tropical America.
• noun Any plant of the order Smilaceæ.
• noun A medicinal preparation of sarsaparilla-root.

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

• noun Any plant of several tropical American species of Smilax.
• noun The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc.

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

• noun Any of various tropical American vines, of the genus Smilax, having fragrant roots
• noun The dried roots of these plants, or a flavoring material extracted from these roots
• noun A soft drink flavored with this extract
• noun Any of several North American plants, of the genus Aralia, having umbels and small white flowers

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

• noun any of various prickly climbing plants of the tropical American genus Smilax having aromatic roots and heart-shaped leaves
• noun carbonated drink flavored with an extract from sarsaparilla root or with birch oil and sassafras