/ English Dictionary |
TOUCH-ME-NOT
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Prostrate or semi-erect subshrub of tropical America, and Australia; heavily armed with recurved thorns and having sensitive soft grey-green leaflets that fold and droop at night or when touched or cooled
Synonyms:
action plant; humble plant; live-and-die; Mimosa pudica; sensitive plant; shame plant; touch-me-not
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("touch-me-not" is a kind of...):
mimosa (any of various tropical shrubs or trees of the genus Mimosa having usually yellow flowers and compound leaves)
Holonyms ("touch-me-not" is a member of...):
genus Mimosa (genus of spiny woody shrubs or trees; named for their apparent imitation of animal sensitivity to light and heat and movement)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Mediterranean vine having oblong fruit that when ripe expels its seeds and juice violently when touched
Synonyms:
Ecballium elaterium; exploding cucumber; squirting cucumber; touch-me-not
Classified under:
Nouns denoting plants
Hypernyms ("touch-me-not" is a kind of...):
gourd; gourd vine (any vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that bears fruits with hard rinds)
Holonyms ("touch-me-not" is a member of...):
Ecballium; genus Ecballium (exploding cucumber; squirting cucumber)
Sense 3
Meaning:
North American annual plant with usually yellow or orange flowers; grows chiefly on wet rather acid soil
Synonyms:
celandine; Impatiens capensis; jewelweed; lady's earrings; orange balsam; touch-me-not
Classified under:
Nouns denoting plants
Hypernyms ("touch-me-not" is a kind of...):
herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)
Holonyms ("touch-me-not" is a member of...):
genus Impatiens (annual or perennial herbs with stems more or less succulent; cosmopolitan except for South America, Australia, and New Zealand)