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noun

Ergot n.

A diseased condition of rye and other cereals, in which the grains become black, and often spur-shaped. It is caused by a parasitic fungus, Claviceps purpurea.

The mycelium or spawn of this fungus infecting grains of rye and wheat. It is a powerful remedial agent, and also a dangerous poison, and is used as a means of hastening childbirth, and to arrest bleeding.

(Far.) A stub, like soft horn, about the size of a chestnut, situated behind and below the pastern joint.

(Anat.) See 2d Calcar, 3 (b).

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Etymology of 'Ergot'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Ergot" Quotes from Famous Books

... drink of warm milk, should be offered to her. In further preparation for the confinement a basin of water containing antiseptic for washing in, towels, warm milk, a flask of brandy, a bottle of ergotine, and a pair of scissors are commodities which may all be required in emergency. The ergot, which must be used with extreme caution and only when the labour pains have commenced, is invaluable when parturition is protracted, and there is difficult straining without result. Its effect is to contract the womb and expel the contents. But when the puppies ...

— Dogs and All About Them • Robert Leighton

... anomalies in the physicals of an Indian, as in those of other men," interrupted Doctor Ergot, with a meaning glance at Dudley. "The conclusion of our neighbor Ring may be too hasty, since paint is the fruit of art, and may be applied to any of our faces, after an established usage. But the evidences of nature are far less to be distrusted. ...

— The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish • James Fenimore Cooper

... use to which the roots are put. According to the American Journal of Pharmacy, the bark from the roots of the Cotton plant contain an active ingredient which in its effects is very much like ergot. ...

— The Story of the Cotton Plant • Frederick Wilkinson

... edge and clawed off the coats of our stomachs. In the army sugar was doled out by pinches, and from the tables of most citizens it was banished altogether. There were those who solaced themselves with rye coffee and sorghum molasses regardless of ergot and acid, but nobler souls would not be untrue to their gastronomic ideal. Necessity is one thing, mock luxury another. If there had been honey enough, we should have been on the antique basis; for honey was the sugar of antiquity, and all our cry for sugar was but ...

— The Creed of the Old South 1865-1915 • Basil L. Gildersleeve

... yet arrived put the baby to the breast, and place an ice bag for ten or fifteen minutes on the abdomen just over the uterus. Should there be lacerations, the doctor will attend to their repair when he comes. One teaspoonful of the fluid extract of ergot is usually given at this time, if possible get in touch with the ...

— The Mother and Her Child • William S. Sadler

... 16, the Valley City steamed up to Ergot's Landing, and took aboard thirty-nine bales of cotton. Thursday, May 18, the Valley City got under weigh and proceeded down the Roanoke river and came to anchor five ...

— Reminiscences of Two Years in the United States Navy • John M. Batten

Words linked to "Ergot" : fungus, rye ergot, Claviceps purpurea, plant disease, genus Claviceps, ergotic, Claviceps