Cowage

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cowage \Cow"age\ (kou"[asl]j), n. (Bot.)
     See {Cowhage}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Cowhage \Cow"hage\ (kou"h[asl]j), n. [Cf. Hind. kaw[=a]nch,
     ko[=a]nch.] (Bot.)
     A leguminous climbing plant of the genus {Mucuna}, having
     crooked pods covered with sharp hairs, which stick to the
     fingers, causing intolerable itching. The spicul[ae] are
     sometimes used in medicine as a mechanical vermifuge.
     [Written also {couhage}, {cowage}, and {cowitch}.]
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cowage
       n 1: pods of the cowage plant or the stinging hairs covering
            them; used as a vermifuge when mixed with e.g. honey
       2: annual semi-woody vine of Asia having long clusters of
          purplish flowers and densely hairy pods; cultivated in
          southern United States for green manure and grazing [syn:
          {velvet bean}, {Bengal bean}, {Benghal bean}, {Florida
          bean}, {Mucuna pruriens utilis}, {Mucuna deeringiana}, {Mucuna
          aterrima}, {Stizolobium deeringiana}]