Search the Dictionary

A characteristic crystalline substance, obtained from oil of bitter almonds.

Bitterness. [R.]

gregated into masses. It has a peculiar smell, and a nauseous, sweet taste, followed by a bitter one. It is inflammable, partially soluble in water and in spirit of wine, and is used in medicine as an expectorant and resolvent, and for the formation of certain plasters.

A glucoside extracted from bitter almonds as a white, crystalline substance.

A bitter principle obtained from the dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum).

An active principle of Arnica montana. It is a bitter resin.

am. Aromatic compound (Chem.), one of a large class of organic substances, as the oils of bitter almonds, wintergreen, and turpentine, the balsams, camphors, etc., many of which have an aromatic odor. They include many of the most important of the carbon compounds and may all be derived from the benzene group, C6H6. Th…

A peculiar acrid and bitter oil, obtained from wood soot.

Rough; rugged; harsh; bitter; stern; fierce. [Archaic] "An asper sound." Bacon.

The peculiar bitter substance, soft or liquid, and of a yellow color, produced when meat, bread, gum, sugar, starch, and the like, are roasted till they turn brown.

other evidence. His promise that thy seed shall bruise our foe . . . Assures me that the bitterness of death Is past, and we shall live. Milton.

A bitter herb, probably the same as aster, or starwort. Spenser.

An assault upon one's feelings or reputation with unfriendly or bitter words.

e, modify, or moderate, by mixture; to temper; to regulate, as temperature. If sweet with bitter . . . were not attempered still. Trench.

Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca. This has a yellowish or greenish color, a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, and a fragrant smell. It is valued as an unguent and cosmetic by the Turks. The fragrant herb Dracocephalum Canariense is familiarly called balm of Gilead, and so are the American trees, Populus balsamif…

An herbaceous plant of the Barberry family (Epimedium alpinum), having leaves that are bitter and said to be sudorific.

A brown, bitter substance found in some of the cells of honeycomb. It is made chiefly from the pollen of flowers, which is collected by bees as food for their young.

alted grain, but commonly from barley malt, with hops or some other substance to impart a bitter flavor.

r is aromatic; its taste is pungent, and somewhat acidulous. -- Benzoic aldehyde, oil of bitter almonds; the aldehyde, C6H5.CHO, intermediate in composition between benzoic or benzyl alcohol, and benzoic acid. It is a thin colorless liquid.

A compound radical, C6H5.CO; the base of benzoic acid, of the oil of bitter almonds, and of an extensive series of compounds. [Formerly written also benzule.]