WordNet Dictionary- [n] an evergreen tree
- [n] soft coarse splintery wood of a hemlock tree especially the western hemlock
- [n] 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
- [n] poisonous drug derived from an Eurasian plant of the genus Conium; "Socrates refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock"
Webster's 1913 Dictionary\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}, {bulbifera}, and {virosa}, and the
{Conium maculatum}. See {Conium}.
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}.
2. (Bot.) An evergreen tree common in North America ({Abies,
or Tsuga, Canadensis}); hemlock spruce.
The murmuring pines and the hemlocks. --Longfellow.
3. The wood or timber of the hemlock tree.
{Ground hemlock}, or {Dwarf hemlock}. See under {Ground}.
Easton Bible Dictionary(1.) Heb. rosh (Hos. 10:4; rendered "gall" in Deut. 29:18; 32:32; Ps. 69:21; Jer. 9:15; 23:15; "poison," Job 20:16; "venom," Deut. 32:33). "Rosh is the name of some poisonous plant which grows quickly and luxuriantly; of a bitter taste, and therefore coupled with wormwood (Deut. 29:18; Lam. 3:19). Hence it would seem to be not the hemlock cicuta, nor the colocynth or wild gourd, nor lolium darnel, but the poppy so called from its heads" (Gesenius, Lex.).
(2.) Heb. la'anah, generally rendered "wormwood" (q.v.), Deut. 29:18, Text 17; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; 23:15. Once it is rendered "hemlock" (Amos 6:12; R.V., "wormwood"). This Hebrew word is from a root meaning "to curse," hence the accursed.
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