'Saponaria officinalis' definitions:

Definition of 'Saponaria officinalis'

From: WordNet
noun
Plant of European origin having pink or white flowers and leaves yielding a detergent when bruised [syn: soapwort, hedge pink, bouncing Bet, bouncing Bess, Saponaria officinalis]

Definition of 'Saponaria officinalis'

From: GCIDE
  • Saponin \Sap"o*nin\, n. [L. sapo, -onis soap: cf. F. saponine.] (Chem.) A poisonous glucoside found in many plants, as in the root of soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), in the bark of soap bark (Quillaja saponaria), etc. It is extracted as a white amorphous powder, which produces a soapy lather in solution, and produces a local anaesthesia. It is used as a detergent and for emulsifying oils. Formerly called also struthiin, quillaiin, senegin, polygalic acid, etc. By extension, any one of a group of related bodies of which saponin proper is the type. [1913 Webster + PJC]

Definition of 'Saponaria officinalis'

From: GCIDE
  • Soapwort \Soap"wort`\, n. (Bot.) A common plant (Saponaria officinalis) of the Pink family; -- so called because its bruised leaves, when agitated in water, produce a lather like that from soap. Called also Bouncing Bet. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Saponaria officinalis'

From: GCIDE
  • Bouncing \Boun"cing\, a.
  • 1. Stout; plump and healthy; lusty; buxom. [1913 Webster]
  • Many tall and bouncing young ladies. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Excessive; big. "A bouncing reckoning." --B. & Fl. [1913 Webster]
  • Bouncing Bet (Bot.), the common soapwort ({Saponaria officinalis}). --Harper's Mag. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Saponaria officinalis'

From: GCIDE
  • Fuller \Full"er\, n. [AS. fullere, fr. L. fullo. See Full, v. t.] One whose occupation is to full cloth. [1913 Webster]
  • Fuller's earth, a variety of clay, used in scouring and cleansing cloth, to imbibe grease.
  • Fuller's herb (Bot.), the soapwort ({Saponaria officinalis}), formerly used to remove stains from cloth.
  • Fuller's thistle or Fuller's weed (Bot.), the teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) whose burs are used by fullers in dressing cloth. See Teasel. [1913 Webster]