dyer's broom

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

dyer's broom \dyer's broom\, dyer's-broom \dyer's-broom\n. small Eurasian shrub (Genista tinctoria) having clusters of yellow flowers that yield a dye; common as weed in England and U.S.; sometimes grown as an ornamental.

Syn: woodwaxen, dyer's greenweed, dyer's weed, dyer's rocket, dyeweed, greenweed, whin, woadwaxen, Genista tinctoria. [WordNet 1.5]

Broom \Broom\ (br[=oo]m), n. [OE. brom, brome, AS. br[=o]m; akin to LG. bram, D. brem, OHG. br[=a]mo broom, thorn?bush, G. brombeere blackberry. Cf. Bramble, n.]

1.(Bot.) A plant having twigs suitable for making brooms to sweep with when bound together; esp., the Cytisus scoparius of Western Europe, which is a low shrub with long, straight, green, angular branches, minute leaves, and large yellow flowers. [1913 Webster]

No gypsy cowered o'er fires of furze and broom.— Wordsworth.[1913 Webster]

2.An implement for sweeping floors, etc., commonly made of the panicles or tops of broom corn, bound together or attached to a long wooden handle; -- so called because originally made of the twigs of the broom. [1913 Webster]

Butcher's broom, a plant (Ruscus aculeatus) of the Smilax family, used by butchers for brooms to sweep their blocks; -- called also knee holly. See Cladophyll.

Dyer's broom, a species of mignonette (Reseda luteola), used for dyeing yellow; dyer's weed; dyer's rocket.

Spanish broom. See under Spanish. [1913 Webster]