Soapwort

2 definitions found

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

  Soapwort \Soap"wort`\, n. (Bot.)
     A common plant ({Saponaria officinalis}) of the Pink family;
     -- so called because its bruised leaves, when agitated in
     water, produce a lather like that from soap. Called also
     {Bouncing Bet}.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  soapwort
       n : plant of European origin having pink or white flowers and
           leaves yielding a detergent when bruised [syn: {hedge
           pink}, {bouncing Bet}, {bouncing Bess}, {Saponaria
           officinalis}]