'Grains of paradise' definitions:

Definition of 'grains of paradise'

noun

West African plant bearing pungent peppery seeds [syn: grains of paradise, Guinea grains, Guinea pepper, melagueta pepper, Aframomum melegueta]

Definition of 'Grains of paradise'

From: GCIDE

Paradise \Par"a*dise\ (p[a^]r"[.a]*d[imac]s), n. [OE. & F. paradis, L. paradisus, fr. Gr. para`deisos park, paradise, fr. Zend pairida[=e]za an inclosure; pairi around (akin to Gr. peri`) + diz to throw up, pile up; cf. Skr. dih to smear, and E. dough. Cf. Parvis.] [1913 Webster]
1. The garden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve were placed after their creation. [1913 Webster]
2. The abode of sanctified souls after death. [1913 Webster]
To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise. --Luke xxiii. 43. [1913 Webster]
It sounds to him like her mother's voice, Singing in Paradise. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
3. A place of bliss; a region of supreme felicity or delight; hence, a state of happiness. [1913 Webster]
The earth Shall be all paradise. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Wrapt in the very paradise of some creative vision. --Beaconsfield. [1913 Webster]
4. (Arch.) An open space within a monastery or adjoining a church, as the space within a cloister, the open court before a basilica, etc. [1913 Webster]
5. A churchyard or cemetery. [Obs.] --Oxf. Gloss. [1913 Webster]
Fool's paradise. See under Fool, and Limbo.
Grains of paradise. (Bot.) See Melequeta pepper, under Pepper.
Paradise bird. (Zool.) Same as Bird of paradise. Among the most beautiful species are the superb ({Lophorina superba}); the magnificent (Diphyllodes magnifica); and the six-shafted paradise bird (Parotia sefilata). The long-billed paradise birds (Epimachin[ae]) also include some highly ornamental species, as the twelve-wired paradise bird (Seleucides alba), which is black, yellow, and white, with six long breast feathers on each side, ending in long, slender filaments. See Bird of paradise in the Vocabulary.
Paradise fish (Zool.), a beautiful fresh-water Asiatic fish (Macropodus viridiauratus) having very large fins. It is often kept alive as an ornamental fish.
Paradise flycatcher (Zool.), any flycatcher of the genus Terpsiphone, having the middle tail feathers extremely elongated. The adult male of Terpsiphone paradisi is white, with the head glossy dark green, and crested.
Paradise grackle (Zool.), a very beautiful bird of New Guinea, of the genus Astrapia, having dark velvety plumage with brilliant metallic tints.
Paradise nut (Bot.), the sapucaia nut. See Sapucaia nut. [Local, U. S.]
Paradise whidah bird. (Zool.) See Whidah. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Grains of paradise'

From: GCIDE

Grain \Grain\ (gr[=a]n), n. [F. grain, L. granum, grain, seed, small kernel, small particle. See Corn, and cf. Garner, n., Garnet, Gram the chick-pea, Granule, Kernel.] [1913 Webster]
1. A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food. [1913 Webster]
2. The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively. [1913 Webster]
Storehouses crammed with grain. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc. [1913 Webster]
I . . . with a grain of manhood well resolved. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
4. The unit of the English system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram. [1913 Webster]
5. A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple. [1913 Webster]
All in a robe of darkest grain. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give' them the last tincture of crimson in grain. --Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection. [1913 Webster]
6. The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain. [1913 Webster]
Hard box, and linden of a softer grain. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
7. The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc. [1913 Webster]
Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap, Infect the sound pine and divert his grain Tortive and errant from his course of growth. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
8. The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material. [1913 Webster]
9. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
10. pl. The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff. [1913 Webster]
11. (Bot.) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4. [1913 Webster]
12. Temper; natural disposition; inclination. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
Brothers . . . not united in grain. --Hayward. [1913 Webster]
13. A sort of spice, the grain of paradise. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
He cheweth grain and licorice, To smellen sweet. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
Against the grain, against or across the direction of the fibers; hence, against one's wishes or tastes; unwillingly; unpleasantly; reluctantly; with difficulty. --Swift. --Saintsbury.
A grain of allowance, a slight indulgence or latitude a small allowance.
Grain binder, an attachment to a harvester for binding the grain into sheaves.
Grain colors, dyes made from the coccus or kermes insect.
Grain leather. (a) Dressed horse hides. (b) Goat, seal, and other skins blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, etc.
Grain moth (Zool.), one of several small moths, of the family Tineid[ae] (as Tinea granella and {Butalis cerealella}), whose larv[ae] devour grain in storehouses.
Grain side (Leather), the side of a skin or hide from which the hair has been removed; -- opposed to flesh side.
Grains of paradise, the seeds of a species of amomum.
grain tin, crystalline tin ore metallic tin smelted with charcoal.
Grain weevil (Zool.), a small red weevil ({Sitophilus granarius}), which destroys stored wheat and other grain, by eating out the interior.
Grain worm (Zool.), the larva of the grain moth. See {grain moth}, above.
In grain, of a fast color; deeply seated; fixed; innate; genuine. "Anguish in grain." --Herbert.
To dye in grain, to dye of a fast color by means of the coccus or kermes grain [see Grain, n., 5]; hence, to dye firmly; also, to dye in the wool, or in the raw material. See under Dye. [1913 Webster]
The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain. --Spenser.
To go against the grain of (a person), to be repugnant to; to vex, irritate, mortify, or trouble. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'grains of Paradise'

From: GCIDE

Pepper \Pep"per\ (p[e^]p"p[~e]r), n. [OE. peper, AS. pipor, L. piper, fr. Gr. pe`peri, pi`peri, akin to Skr. pippala, pippali.]
1. A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum. [1913 Webster]
Note: Common pepper, or black pepper, is made from the whole berry, dried just before maturity; white pepper is made from the ripe berry after the outer skin has been removed by maceration and friction. It has less of the peculiar properties of the plant than the black pepper. Pepper is used in medicine as a carminative stimulant. [1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody climber (Piper nigrum), with ovate leaves and apetalous flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth. [1913 Webster]
3. Any plant of the genus Capsicum (of the Solanaceae family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit; red pepper; chili pepper; as, the bell pepper and the jalapeno pepper (both Capsicum annuum) and the habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense); . These contain varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N), which gives the peppers their hot taste. The habanero is about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. See also Capsicum and http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com/. [1913 Webster + PJC]
Note: The term pepper has been extended to various other fruits and plants, more or less closely resembling the true pepper, esp. to the common varieties of Capsicum. See Capsicum, and the Phrases, below. [1913 Webster]
African pepper, the Guinea pepper. See under Guinea.
Cayenne pepper. See under Cayenne.
Chinese pepper, the spicy berries of the {Xanthoxylum piperitum}, a species of prickly ash found in China and Japan.
Guinea pepper. See under Guinea, and Capsicum.
Jamaica pepper. See Allspice.
Long pepper. (a) The spike of berries of Piper longum, an East Indian shrub. (b) The root of Piper methysticum (syn. {Macropiper methysticum}) of the family Piperaceae. See Kava.
Malaguetta pepper, or Meleguetta pepper, the aromatic seeds of the Amomum Melegueta, an African plant of the Ginger family. They are sometimes used to flavor beer, etc., under the name of grains of Paradise.
Red pepper. See Capsicum.
Sweet pepper bush (Bot.), an American shrub ({Clethra alnifolia}), with racemes of fragrant white flowers; -- called also white alder.
Pepper box or Pepper caster, a small box or bottle, with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling ground pepper on food, etc.
Pepper corn. See in the Vocabulary.
Pepper elder (Bot.), a West Indian name of several plants of the Pepper family, species of Piper and Peperomia.
Pepper moth (Zool.), a European moth (Biston betularia) having white wings covered with small black specks.
Pepper pot, a mucilaginous soup or stew of vegetables and cassareep, much esteemed in the West Indies.
Pepper root. (Bot.). See Coralwort.
pepper sauce, a condiment for the table, made of small red peppers steeped in vinegar.
Pepper tree (Bot.), an aromatic tree (Drimys axillaris) of the Magnolia family, common in New Zealand. See Peruvian mastic tree, under Mastic. [1913 Webster]