'Dumb cane' definitions:

Definition of 'dumb cane'

noun

An evergreen plant with large showy dark green leaves; contains a poison that swells the tongue and throat hence the name [syn: dumb cane, mother-in-law plant, mother- in-law's tongue, Dieffenbachia sequine]

Definition of 'Dumb cane'

From: GCIDE

Dumb \Dumb\, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See Deaf, and cf. Dummy.]
1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster]
To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]
2. Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not accompanied by words; as, dumb show. [1913 Webster]
This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
To pierce into the dumb past. -- J. C. Shairp. [1913 Webster]
3. Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color. [R.] [1913 Webster]
Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color. --De Foe. [1913 Webster]
Deaf and dumb. See Deaf-mute.
Dumb ague, or Dumb chill, a form of intermittent fever which has no well-defined "chill." [U.S.]
Dumb animal, any animal except man; -- usually restricted to a domestic quadruped; -- so called in contradistinction to man, who is a "speaking animal."
Dumb cake, a cake made in silence by girls on St. Mark's eve, with certain mystic ceremonies, to discover their future husbands. --Halliwell.
Dumb cane (Bot.), a west Indian plant of the Arum family (Dieffenbachia seguina), which, when chewed, causes the tongue to swell, and destroys temporarily the power of speech.
Dumb crambo. See under crambo.
Dumb show. (a) Formerly, a part of a dramatic representation, shown in pantomime. "Inexplicable dumb shows and noise." --Shak. (b) Signs and gestures without words; as, to tell a story in dumb show.
To strike dumb, to confound; to astonish; to render silent by astonishment; or, it may be, to deprive of the power of speech.
Syn: Silent; speechless; noiseless. See Mute. [1913 Webster]