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A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. See Bitter rot, Black rot, etc., below.

A perennial suffrutescent plant (Ruta graveolens), having a strong, heavy odor and a bitter taste; herb of grace. It is used in medicine. Then purged with euphrasy and rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see. Milton. They [the exorcists] are to try the devil by holy water, incense, sulphur, rue, which from thence,…

n is found in the leaves of the rue (Ruta graveolens) and other plants, and obtained as a bitter yellow crystalline substance which yields quercitin on decomposition.

A bitter white crystalline substance obtained from the saccharinates and regarded as the lactone of saccharinic acid; -- so called because formerly supposed to be isomeric with cane sugar (saccharose).

sfied; weary; tired. [Obs.] Yet of that art they can not waxen sad, For unto them it is a bitter sweet. Chaucer.

e found in the leaves of several species of willow (Salix) and poplar, and extracted as a bitter white crystalline substance.salicyl alcohol glucoside, salicyl alcohol b-D- glucopyranoside, saligenin b-D-glucopyranoside, C13H18O7. It is used in biochemistry as a standard substrate for evaluating the potency of b-glucos…

Fig.: Bitter; sharp; pungent. I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me. Shak.

true salpeter), a white crystalline substance, NaNO3, having a cooling, saline, slightly bitter taste. It is obtained by leaching the soil of the rainless districts of Chili and Peru. It is deliquescent and cannot be used in gunpowder, but is employed in the production of nitric acid. Called also cubic niter. -- Salt…

A white crystalline substance having a bitter taste, extracted from the buds of levant wormseed and used as an anthelmintic. It occassions a peculiar temporary color blindness, causing objects to appear as if seen through a yellow glass.

by, sarcasm; characterized by, or of the nature of, sarcasm; given to the use of sarcasm; bitterly satirical; scornfully severe; taunting. What a fierce and sarcastic reprehension would this have drawn from the friendship of the world! South.

Forced; unnatural; insincere; hence, derisive, mocking, malignant, or bitterly sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh, smile, or some facial semblance of gayety. Where strained, sardonic smiles are glozing still, And grief is forced to laugh against her will. Sir H. Wotton. The scornful, ferocious, sardonic grin of a bl…

The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc.

To treat with bitter, pert, or tart language; to be impudent or sancy to. [Colloq. or Low] I'll sauce her with bitter words. Shak.

bush, with dark-colored foliage, and produces small berries having a glaucous bloom. Its bitter, acrid tops are sometimes used in medicine for gout, amenorrhoea, etc.

A bitter principle extracted from the bulbs of the squill (Scilla), and probably consisting of a complex mixture of several substances.

An act or expression of extreme contempt. Every sullen frown and bitter scorn But fanned the fuel that too fast did burn. Dryden.

ich it owes its generative power. Semen contra, or Semen cinæ or cynæ, a strong aromatic, bitter drug, imported from Aleppo and Barbary, said to consist of the leaves, peduncles, and unexpanded flowers of various species of Artemisia; wormseed.

the thickened endosperm of certain seeds, and extracted as yellow sirup having a sweetish-bitter taste.

he rootstock of an American species of milkworth (Polygala Senega) having an aromatic but bitter taste. It is often used medicinally as an expectorant and diuretic, and, in large doses, as an emetic and cathartic. [Written also Senega root, and Seneka root.]

A bitter white crystalline nitrogenous substance, obtained indirectly from oil of mustard and ammonia; -- called also allyl melamine.