1.
[syn: heather, ling, Scots heather, broom, Calluna vulgaris]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Heath \Heath\ (h[=e]th), n. [OE. heth waste land, the plant
heath, AS. h[=ae][eth]; akin to D. & G. heide, Icel.
hei[eth]r waste land, Dan. hede, Sw. hed, Goth. hai[thorn]i
field, L. bucetum a cow pasture; cf. W. coed a wood, Skr.
ksh[=e]tra field. [root]20.]
1. (Bot.)
(a) A low shrub (Erica vulgaris or Calluna vulgaris),
with minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of
pink flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms,
thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It
is also called heather, and ling.
(b) Also, any species of the genus Erica, of which
several are European, and many more are South African,
some of great beauty. See Illust. of Heather.
[1913 Webster]
2. A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of
country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage.
[1913 Webster]
Their stately growth, though bare,
Stands on the blasted heath. --Milton
[1913 Webster]
Heath cock (Zool.), the blackcock. See Heath grouse
(below).
Heath grass (Bot.), a kind of perennial grass, of the genus
Triodia (Triodia decumbens), growing on dry heaths.
Heath grouse, or Heath game (Zool.), a European grouse
(Tetrao tetrix), which inhabits heaths; -- called also
black game, black grouse, heath poult, heath fowl,
moor fowl. The male is called heath cock, and
blackcock; the female, heath hen, and gray hen.
Heath hen. (Zool.) See Heath grouse (above).
Heath pea (Bot.), a species of bitter vetch (Lathyrus
macrorhizus), the tubers of which are eaten, and in
Scotland are used to flavor whisky.
Heath throstle (Zool.), a European thrush which frequents
heaths; the ring ouzel.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ling \Ling\, n. [Icel. lyng; akin to Dan. lyng, Sw. ljung.]
(Bot.)
Heather (Calluna vulgaris).
[1913 Webster]
Ling honey, a sort of wild honey, made from the flowers of
the heather. --Holland.
[1913 Webster] Linga
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Calluna vulgaris
n 1: common Old World heath represented by many varieties; low
evergreen grown widely in the northern hemisphere [syn:
heather, ling, Scots heather, broom, Calluna
vulgaris]