spurge
noun
- any species of the clade Euphorbia
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /spɜːdʒ/ / /spɜɹdʒ/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Old French espurgebor. Middle English spurge English spurge Inherited from Middle English spurge, from Old French espurge, from espurgier (“to purge”), from Latin expurgo (“to purge”); the bitter milky sap of these plants was formerly used as a purgative.
- Any plant of the genus Euphorbia, a diverse genus of over 2,000 species.
“But cockle, spurge, according to their law / Might propagate their kind, with none to awe, / You'd think; a burr had been a treasure trove.”
“A compound of spurge, cardamom, cinnamon of Mecca, pellitory, ginger, nettle seed is an Arab specific for sexual weakness.”
- Any plant of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae.
- A plant resembling those in genus Euphorbia in some aspect of its appearance.
verb
Etymology: Uncertain, but likely closely related to etymology 1, thus a doublet of purge.
- To emit foam; to froth; said of the emission of yeast from beer during fermentation.
“The body's somthing noysome: 'tis a stale one; / Good troth it spurgeth very monstrously.”