wolfsbane

[ woo lfs-beyn ]
/ ˈwʊlfsˌbeɪn /

noun

any of several plants in the aconite genus Aconitum, including A. lycoctonum, bearing stalks of hood-shaped purplish-blue flowers, the monkshood A. napellus, which yields a poisonous alkaloid used medicinally, and numerous garden varieties in various colors.

Origin of wolfsbane

1540–50; wolf + 's 1 + bane

Example sentences from the Web for wolfsbane

  • There was the awesome efficiency of wolfsbane with its deadly store of aconite.

    The Status Civilization |Robert Sheckley

British Dictionary definitions for wolfsbane

wolfsbane

wolf's-bane

/ (ˈwʊlfsˌbeɪn) /

noun

any of several poisonous N temperate plants of the ranunculaceous genus Aconitum, esp A. lycoctonum, which has yellow hoodlike flowers