Calabar | n. A district on the west coast of Africa. [ 1913 Webster ] Calabar bean, The of a climbing legumious plant (Physostigma venenosum), a native of tropical Africa. It is highly poisonous. It is used to produce contraction of the pupil of the eye; also in tetanus, neuralgia, and rheumatic diseases; -- called also ordeal bean, being used by the negroes in trials for witchcraft. [ 1913 Webster ]
|
Calabash | n. [ Sp. calabaza, or Pg. calabaça, cabaça (cf. F. Calebasse), lit., a dry gourd, fr. Ar. qar', fem., a kind of gourd + aibas dry. ] 1. The common gourd (plant or fruit). [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The fruit of the calabash tree. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. A water dipper, bottle, bascket, or other utensil, made from the dry shell of a calabash or gourd. [ 1913 Webster ] Calabash tree. (Bot.), a tree of tropical America (Crescentia cujete), producing a large gourdlike fruit, containing a purgative pulp. Its hard shell, after the removal of the pulp, is used for cups, bottles, etc. The African calabash tree is the baobab. [ 1913 Webster ]
|