Adam's needle

Adam's needle
Adam Ad"am, n. 1. The name given in the Bible to the first man, the progenitor of the human race. [1913 Webster]

2. (As a symbol) ``Original sin;'' human frailty. [1913 Webster]

And whipped the offending Adam out of him. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{Adam's ale}, water. [Coll.]

{Adam's apple}.

1. (Bot.) (a) A species of banana ({Musa paradisiaca}). It attains a height of twenty feet or more. --Paxton. (b) A species of lime ({Citris limetta}).

2. The projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit (an apple) sticking in the throat of our first parent.

{Adam's flannel} (Bot.), the mullein ({Verbascum thapsus}).

{Adam's needle} (Bot.), the popular name of a genus ({Yucca}) of liliaceous plants. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Adam's needle — ☆ Adam s needle n. any of several species (esp. Yucca filamentosa) of the yucca plant * * * …   Universalium

  • Adam's needle — ☆ Adam s needle n. any of several species (esp. Yucca filamentosa) of the yucca plant …   English World dictionary

  • Adam's needle — noun yucca with long stiff leaves having filamentlike appendages • Syn: ↑Adam s needle and thread, ↑spoonleaf yucca, ↑needle palm, ↑Yucca filamentosa • Hypernyms: ↑yucca …   Useful english dictionary

  • Adam's needle — Yucca Yuc ca, n. [NL., from Yuca, its name in St. Domingo.] (Bot.) A genus of American liliaceous, sometimes arborescent, plants having long, pointed, and often rigid, leaves at the top of a more or less woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Adam's needle-and-thread — noun yucca with long stiff leaves having filamentlike appendages • Syn: ↑Adam s needle, ↑spoonleaf yucca, ↑needle palm, ↑Yucca filamentosa • Hypernyms: ↑yucca * * * noun see ada …   Useful english dictionary

  • Adam's needle — noun Date: circa 1760 an often cultivated yucca (Yucca filamentosa) of coastal pine barrens of the eastern United States with a basal rosette of sharp tipped leaves having loose threads along the margins …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Adam's-needle — /ad euhmz need l/, n. a yucca, Yucca filamentosa, grown as an ornamental, having sword shaped leaves and a tall spike of creamy white, bell shaped flowers. [1750 60, Amer.] * * * …   Universalium

  • adam's-needle — n. Yucca, bear grass, Spanish bayonet …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • Adam's-needle — Ad′am s nee′dle n. pln a yucca plant, Yucca filamentosa, grown as an ornamental • Etymology: 1750–60, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • Adam's needle — /ædəmz ˈnidl/ (say aduhmz needl) noun a species of yucca, Yucca smalliana, much cultivated for ornament …  

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