spurge 🔊 noun UK /spɜːdʒ/ · US /spɜɹdʒ/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English spurge, from Old French espurge, from espurgier (“to purge”), from Latin expurgo (“to purge”); the bitter milky sap of these plants was formerly used as a purgative.
1 Usually Any plant of the genus Euphorbia, a diverse genus of over 2,000 species.
But cockle, spurge, according to their law / Might propagate their kind, with none to awe, / You'd think; a burr had been a treasure trove.1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section X: A compound of spurge, cardamom, cinnamon of Mecca, pellitory, ginger, nettle seed is an Arab specific for sexual weakness.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 228: 2 Usually Any plant of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae.
3 Usually A plant resembling those in genus Euphorbia in some aspect of its appearance.
Derived terms 68 terms balsam spurge , spurgewort , Allegheny spurge, Allegheny mountain spurge, broom spurge , caper spurge , cliff spurge , coast spurge , creeping spurge, cushion spurge , cypress spurge , dwarf spurge, flowering spurge, glade spurge, gopher spurge , graveyard spurge, green spurge , Gregersen's spurge, Griffith's spurge, hairy spurge, Hall's shrubby spurge), Indian spurge tree, Indian tree spurge, ipecac spurge, Japanese spurge , knotweed spurge, leaf spurge, leafy spurge , Mediterranean spurge, mottled spurge, myrtle spurge, nettlespurge , painted spurge, paper spurge , Peking spurge, petty spurge , pill-bearing spurge, prairie spurge, prostrate spurge, purple spurge , red spurge Euphorbia cotinifolia), resin spurge, sand spurge, sawtooth spurge, seaside spurge, sea spurge, serrated spurge, shore spurge, silver spurge, slipper spurge, spotted spurge , spurge daphne, spurge flax, spurge hawk-moth, spurge laurel, spurge nettle, spurge olive, stubble spurge, sun spurge , toothed spurge, tramp's spurge, tree spurge, upright myrtle spurge, variegated spurge, wart spurge, white-margined spurge, wild spurge, wood spurge Hyponyms 67 terms African milk barrel , African milk tree , cathedral cactus , asthma-plant , baseball plant , candelabra tree , candelilla , caper spurge , gopher spurge , paper spurge , cliff spurge , coast spurge , crown of thorns , Christ plant, cushion spurge , cypress spurge , devil's backbone , redbird cactus , dwarf poinsettia, fire-on-the-mountain , wild poinsettia, glade spurge, purple spurge , upright myrtle spurge, Gregersen's spurge, Griffith's spurge, leafy spurge , green spurge , Indian spurge tree, Indian tree spurge, milk bush, leafless milk hedge, leafy milk hedge, Madagascar jewel, Mediterranean spurge, Medusa's head, mottled spurge, frilled fan, elkhorn , myrtle spurge, creeping spurge, painted spurge, painted euphorbia, Mexican fireplant, petty spurge , Peking spurge, pencil tree , poinsettia , painted leaf, rattlesnake weed , white-margined sandmat, red spurge , resin spurge, sand spurge, scarlet plume, sea spurge, serrated spurge, sawtooth spurge, spotted spurge , prostrate spurge, sun spurge , tree spurge, variegated spurge, white-margined spurge, snow-on-the-mountain , smoke-on-the-prairie, wood spurge
spurge 🔊 verb Etymology Uncertain, but likely closely related to etymology 1, thus a doublet of purge.
1 To emit foam; to froth; said of the emission of yeast from beer during fermentation.
The body's somthing noysome: 'tis a stale one; / Good troth it spurgeth very monstrously.1661, W. Cartwright, Siedge: