1.
2.
[syn: poison ivy, markweed, poison mercury, poison oak, Toxicodendron radicans, Rhus radicans]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Oak \Oak\ ([=o]k), n. [OE. oke, ok, ak, AS. [=a]c; akin to D.
eik, G. eiche, OHG. eih, Icel. eik, Sw. ek, Dan. eeg.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Bot.) Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks
have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and
staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut,
called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a
scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now
recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly
fifty occur in the United States, the rest in Europe,
Asia, and the other parts of North America, a very few
barely reaching the northern parts of South America and
Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand
proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually
hard and tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary
rays, forming the silver grain.
[1913 Webster]
2. The strong wood or timber of the oak.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Among the true oaks in America are:
Barren oak, or
Black-jack, Quercus nigra.
Basket oak, Quercus Michauxii.
Black oak, Quercus tinctoria; -- called also yellow oak
or quercitron oak.
Bur oak (see under Bur.), Quercus macrocarpa; -- called
also over-cup or mossy-cup oak.
Chestnut oak, Quercus Prinus and Quercus densiflora.
Chinquapin oak (see under Chinquapin), Quercus
prinoides.
Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, of California; -- also
called enceno.
Live oak (see under Live), Quercus virens, the best of
all for shipbuilding; also, Quercus Chrysolepis, of
California.
Pin oak. Same as Swamp oak.
Post oak, Quercus obtusifolia.
Red oak, Quercus rubra.
Scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea.
Scrub oak, Quercus ilicifolia, Quercus undulata, etc.
Shingle oak, Quercus imbricaria.
Spanish oak, Quercus falcata.
Swamp Spanish oak, or
Pin oak, Quercus palustris.
Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor.
Water oak, Quercus aquatica.
Water white oak, Quercus lyrata.
Willow oak, Quercus Phellos.
[1913 Webster] Among the true oaks in Europe are:
Bitter oak, or
Turkey oak, Quercus Cerris (see Cerris).
Cork oak, Quercus Suber.
English white oak, Quercus Robur.
Evergreen oak,
Holly oak, or
Holm oak, Quercus Ilex.
Kermes oak, Quercus coccifera.
Nutgall oak, Quercus infectoria.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Among plants called oak, but not of the genus
Quercus, are:
African oak, a valuable timber tree (Oldfieldia
Africana).
Australian oak or She oak, any tree of the genus
Casuarina (see Casuarina).
Indian oak, the teak tree (see Teak).
Jerusalem oak. See under Jerusalem.
New Zealand oak, a sapindaceous tree (Alectryon
excelsum).
Poison oak, a shrub once not distinguished from poison ivy,
but now restricted to Rhus toxicodendron or Rhus
diversiloba.
Silky oak or Silk-bark oak, an Australian tree
(Grevillea robusta).
[1913 Webster]
Green oak, oak wood colored green by the growth of the
mycelium of certain fungi.
Oak apple, a large, smooth, round gall produced on the
leaves of the American red oak by a gallfly (Cynips
confluens). It is green and pulpy when young.
Oak beauty (Zool.), a British geometrid moth (Biston
prodromaria) whose larva feeds on the oak.
Oak gall, a gall found on the oak. See 2d Gall.
Oak leather (Bot.), the mycelium of a fungus which forms
leatherlike patches in the fissures of oak wood.
Oak pruner. (Zool.) See Pruner, the insect.
Oak spangle, a kind of gall produced on the oak by the
insect Diplolepis lenticularis.
Oak wart, a wartlike gall on the twigs of an oak.
The Oaks, one of the three great annual English horse races
(the Derby and St. Leger being the others). It was
instituted in 1779 by the Earl of Derby, and so called
from his estate.
To sport one's oak, to be "not at home to visitors,"
signified by closing the outer (oaken) door of one's
rooms. [Cant, Eng. Univ.]
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Poison \Poi"son\, n. [F. poison, in Old French also, a potion,
fr. L. potio a drink, draught, potion, a poisonous draught,
fr. potare to drink. See Potable, and cf. Potion.]
1. Any agent which, when introduced into the animal organism,
is capable of producing a morbid, noxious, or deadly
effect upon it; as, morphine is a deadly poison; the
poison of pestilential diseases.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as,
the poison of evil example; the poison of sin.
[1913 Webster]
Poison ash. (Bot.)
(a) A tree of the genus Amyris (Amyris balsamifera)
found in the West Indies, from the trunk of which a
black liquor distills, supposed to have poisonous
qualities.
(b) The poison sumac (Rhus venenata). [U. S.]
Poison dogwood (Bot.), poison sumac.
Poison fang (Zool.), one of the superior maxillary teeth of
some species of serpents, which, besides having the cavity
for the pulp, is either perforated or grooved by a
longitudinal canal, at the lower end of which the duct of
the poison gland terminates. See Illust. under Fang.
Poison gland (Biol.), a gland, in animals or plants, which
secretes an acrid or venomous matter, that is conveyed
along an organ capable of inflicting a wound.
Poison hemlock (Bot.), a poisonous umbelliferous plant
(Conium maculatum). See Hemlock.
Poison ivy (Bot.), a poisonous climbing plant (formerly
Rhus Toxicodendron, or Rhus radicans, now classified
as Toxicodendron radicans) of North America. It is
common as a climbing vine, especially found on tree
trunks, or walls, or as a low, spreading vine or as a
shrub. As a low vine it grows well in lightly shaded
areas, recognizable by growing in clusters of three
leaves. Its leaves are trifoliate, rhombic-ovate, and
variously notched. Its form varies slightly from location
to location, leading to some speculation that it may
consist of more than one species. Many people are poisoned
by it, though some appear resistant to its effects.
Touching the leaves may leave a residue of an oil on the
skin, and if not washed off quickly, sensitive areas of
skin become reddened and develop multiple small blisters,
lasting for several days to several weeks, and causing a
persistent itch. The toxic reaction is due to an oil,
present in all parts of the plant except the pollen,
called urushiol, the active component of which is the
compound pentadecylacatechol (according to [a
href="http:]/www.jaxmed.com/articles/Diseases/poison_ivy_dermatitis.htm">Charles
H. Booras). See Poison sumac. It is related to poison
oak, and is also called mercury.
Poison nut. (Bot.)
(a) Nux vomica.
(b) The tree which yields this seed (Strychnos
Nuxvomica). It is found on the Malabar and Coromandel
coasts.
Poison oak (Bot.), a dermatitis-producing plant often
lumped together with the poison ivy (Toxicodendron
radicans) in common terminology, but more properly
distinguished as the more shrubby Toxicodendron
quercifolium (syn. Toxicodendron diversilobum), common
in California and Oregon. Opinion varies as to whether the
poison oak and poison ivy are only variants of a single
species. See poison ivy, above.
Poison sac. (Zool.) Same as Poison gland, above. See
Illust. under Fang.
Poison sumac (Bot.), a poisonous shrub formerly considered
to be of the genus Rhus (Rhus venenata), but now
classified as Toxicodendron vernix; -- also called
poison ash, poison dogwood, and poison elder. It has
pinnate leaves on graceful and slender common petioles,
and usually grows in swampy places. Both this plant and
the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans, formerly Rhus
Toxicodendron) have clusters of smooth greenish white
berries, while the red-fruited species of this genus are
harmless. The tree (Rhus vernicifera) which yields the
celebrated Japan lacquer is almost identical with the
poison sumac, and is also very poisonous. The juice of the
poison sumac also forms a lacquer similar to that of
Japan.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Syn: Venom; virus; bane; pest; malignity.
Usage: Poison, Venom. Poison usually denotes something
received into the system by the mouth, breath, etc.
Venom is something discharged from animals and
received by means of a wound, as by the bite or sting
of serpents, scorpions, etc. Hence, venom specifically
implies some malignity of nature or purpose.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
poison oak
n 1: dermatitis resulting from contact with a poison oak plant
2: climbing plant common in eastern and central United States
with ternate leaves and greenish flowers followed by white
berries; yields an irritating oil that causes a rash on
contact [syn: poison ivy, markweed, poison mercury,
poison oak, Toxicodendron radicans, Rhus radicans]