Word Study
castor and pollux |
castor bean |
castor bean plant |
castor canadensis |
castor fiber |
castor oil
| castor sugar
| castor-oil plant
| castoreum
| castoridae
| castorin
castor oil
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun castor oil has 1 sense
CIDE DICTIONARY
castor oil,
A mild cathartic oil, expressed or extracted from the seeds of the Ricinus communis , or Palma Christi . When fresh the oil is inodorous and insipid. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
castor oil, n.
1 an oil from the seeds of a plant, Ricinus communis, used as a purgative and lubricant.
2 (in full castor oil plant) this plant.
1 an oil from the seeds of a plant, Ricinus communis, used as a purgative and lubricant.
2 (in full castor oil plant) this plant.
Idiom
castor oil bean (or castor bean) a seed of the castor oil plant.
Etymology
18th c.: orig. uncert.: perh. so called as having succeeded CASTOR(2) in the medical sense
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