barbasco
American Heritage Dictionary:
Top
bar·bas·co
(bär-bäs'kō) 
n., pl., -cos.
n., pl., -cos.
- Any of several tropical American plants, as in the genus Lonchocarpus, that contain a substance that can stun or paralyze fish.
- Any of several Mexican plants of the genus Dioscorea having a large, inedible root that yields an extract used as a raw material for synthetic steroid hormones.
[American Spanish, from Spanish barbasco, mullein, alteration (possibly influenced by barba, beard) of verbasco, from Latin verbascum.]
Random House Word Menu:
Top
categories related to 'barbasco'
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
