[syn: bristly sarsaparilla, bristly sarsparilla, dwarf elder, Aralia hispida]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Dwarf \Dwarf\, n.; pl. Dwarfs. [OE. dwergh, dwerf, dwarf, AS.
dweorg, dweorh; akin to D. dwerg, MHG. twerc, G. zwerg, Icel.
dvergr, Sw. & Dan. dverg; of unknown origin.]
1. An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size
of its species or kind.
[1913 Webster]
2. Especially: A diminutive human being, small in stature due
to a pathological condition which causes a distortion of
the proportions of body parts to each other, such as the
limbs, torso, and head. A person of unusually small height
who has normal body proportions is usually called a
midget.
[PJC]
Note: During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared
the favor of courts and the nobility.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Folklore) A small, usually misshapen person, typically a
man, who may have magical powers; mythical dwarves were
often depicted as living underground in caves.
[PJC]
Note: Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much
below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree;
dwarf honeysuckle.
[1913 Webster]
Dwarf elder (Bot.), danewort.
Dwarf wall (Arch.), a low wall, not as high as the story of
a building, often used as a garden wall or fence. --Gwilt.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Elder \El"der\, n. [OE. ellern, eller, AS. ellen, cf. LG.
elloorn; perh. akin to OHG. holantar, holuntar, G. holunder;
or perh. to E. alder, n.] (Bot.)
A genus of shrubs (Sambucus) having broad umbels of white
flowers, and small black or red berries.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The common North American species is Sambucus
Canadensis; the common European species (S. nigra)
forms a small tree. The red-berried elder is S.
pubens. The berries are diaphoretic and aperient. The
European elder (Sambucus nigra) is also called the
elderberry, bourtree, Old World elder, black
elder, and common elder.
[1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]
Box elder. See under 1st Box.
Dwarf elder. See Danewort.
Elder tree. (Bot.) Same as Elder. --Shak.
Marsh elder, the cranberry tree Viburnum Opulus).
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
dwarf elder
n 1: dwarf herbaceous elder of Europe having pink flowers and a
nauseous odor [syn: dwarf elder, danewort, Sambucus
ebulus]
2: bristly herb of eastern and central North America having
black fruit and medicinal bark [syn: bristly sarsaparilla,
bristly sarsparilla, dwarf elder, Aralia hispida]