1.
[syn: Ecballium, genus Ecballium]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ecballium \Ec*bal"li*um\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?. See Ecbole.]
(Bot.)
A genus of cucurbitaceous plants consisting of the single
species Ecballium agreste (or Elaterium), the squirting
cucumber. Its fruit, when ripe, bursts and violently ejects
its seeds, together with a mucilaginous juice, from which
elaterium, a powerful cathartic medicine, is prepared.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Ecballium
n 1: exploding cucumber; squirting cucumber [syn: Ecballium,
genus Ecballium]