witch-meal

noun

witch-meal

noun

Etymology A figurative use of the word meal, prompted by fancied resemblance.

1

Obsolete A flash powder made from club moss; vegetable sulphur.

[…] substance which Graine knew to be 'witch-meal'; the seeds of dried lycopodium moss; the other set the dust on fire with a burning stick, the flame pursuing the flying particles till they were consumed, when the light flashed out[…]1915, Alice Mona CAIRD, The Stones of Sacrifice, page 275:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.