From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hemlock \Hem"lock\, n. [OE. hemeluc, humloc, AS. hemlic,
hymlic.]
1. (Bot.) The name of several poisonous umbelliferous herbs
having finely cut leaves and small white flowers, as the
{Cicuta maculata}, {Cicuta bulbifera}, and {Cicuta
virosa}, and the {Conium maculatum}. See {Conium}.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The potion of hemlock administered to Socrates is by
some thought to have been a decoction of {Cicuta
virosa}, or water hemlock, by others, of {Conium
maculatum}.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) An evergreen tree common in North America ({Abies
Canadensis} or {Tsuga Canadensis}); hemlock spruce.
[1913 Webster]
The murmuring pines and the hemlocks. --Longfellow.
[1913 Webster]
3. The wood or timber of the hemlock tree.
[1913 Webster]
{Ground hemlock}, or {Dwarf hemlock}. See under {Ground}.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
hemlock
n 1: poisonous drug derived from an Eurasian plant of the genus
Conium; "Socrates refused to flee and died by drinking
hemlock"
2: large branching biennial herb native to Eurasia and Africa
and adventive in North America having large fernlike leaves
and white flowers; usually found in damp habitats; all parts
extremely poisonous [syn: {hemlock}, {poison hemlock},
{poison parsley}, {California fern}, {Nebraska fern}, {winter
fern}, {Conium maculatum}]
3: soft coarse splintery wood of a hemlock tree especially the
western hemlock
4: an evergreen tree [syn: {hemlock}, {hemlock tree}]
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