Aloes

4 definitions found

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

  aloes \aloes\ n.
     a purgative made from the leaves of aloe. Same as {aloe[3]}.
  
     Syn: bitter aloes
          [WordNet 1.5]



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

  aloe \al"oe\ ([a^]l"n[-o]), n.; pl. {Aloes} ([a^]l"[=o]z). [L.
     alo["e], Gr. 'alo`h, aloe: cf. OF. aloe, F. alo[`e]s.]
     1. pl. The wood of the agalloch. [Obs.] --Wyclif.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Bot.) [capitalized] A genus of succulent plants, some
        classed as trees, others as shrubs, but the greater number
        having the habit and appearance of evergreen herbaceous
        plants; from some of which are prepared articles for
        medicine and the arts. They are natives of warm countries.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. pl. (Med.) The inspissated juice of several species of
        aloe, used as a purgative. [Plural in form but
        syntactically singular.] AS
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {American aloe}, {Century aloe}, the agave. See {Agave}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  aloes
       n : a purgative made from the leaves of aloe [syn: {bitter aloes}]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Aloes
     (Heb. 'ahalim), a fragrant wood (Num. 24:6; Ps. 45:8; Prov.
     7:17; Cant. 4:14), the Aquilaria agallochum of botanists, or, as
     some suppose, the costly gum or perfume extracted from the wood.
     It is found in China, Siam, and Northern India, and grows to the
     height sometimes of 120 feet. This species is of great rarity
     even in India. There is another and more common species, called
     by Indians aghil, whence Europeans have given it the name of
     Lignum aquile, or eagle-wood. Aloewood was used by the Egyptians
     for embalming dead bodies. Nicodemus brought it (pounded
     aloe-wood) to embalm the body of Christ (John 19:39); but
     whether this was the same as that mentioned elsewhere is
     uncertain.
     
       The bitter aloes of the apothecary is the dried juice of the
     leaves Aloe vulgaris.