'Pleurisy root' definitions:
Definition of 'pleurisy root'
From: WordNet
noun
Erect perennial of eastern and southern United States having showy orange flowers [syn: butterfly weed, orange milkweed, chigger flower, chiggerflower, pleurisy root, tuber root, Indian paintbrush, Asclepias tuberosa]
Definition of 'Pleurisy root'
From: GCIDE
- Pleurisy \Pleu"ri*sy\, n. [F. pleur['e]sie, L. pleurisis, pleuritis, Gr pleyri^tis (sc. no`sos), fr. pleyra` rib, side.] (Med.) An inflammation of the pleura, usually accompanied with fever, pain, difficult respiration, and cough, and with exudation into the pleural cavity. [1913 Webster]
- Pleurisy root. (Bot.) (a) The large tuberous root of a kind of milkweed ({Asclepias tuberosa}) which is used as a remedy for pleuritic and other diseases. (b) The plant itself, which has deep orange-colored flowers; -- called also butterfly weed. [1913 Webster]