Find the word definition

Crossword clues for samphire

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Samphire

Samphire \Sam"phire\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F. l'herbe de Saint Pierre. See Saint, and Petrel.] (Bot.)

  1. A fleshy, suffrutescent, umbelliferous European plant ( Crithmum maritimum). It grows among rocks and on cliffs along the seacoast, and is used for pickles.

    Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!
    --Shak.

  2. The species of glasswort ( Salicornia herbacea); -- called in England marsh samphire.

  3. A seashore shrub ( Borrichia arborescens) of the West Indies.

    Golden samphire. See under Golden.

Wiktionary
samphire

n. 1 One of several salt-tolerant plants, some edible 2 # The (vern: marsh samphire), glasswort, genus ''Salicornia'', a plant once burned to produce ash used to make soda glass. 3 # The (vern: rock samphire), (taxlink Crithmum maritimum species noshow=1). 4 # The (vern: golden samphire), (taxlink Inula crithmoides species noshow=1). 5 # (taxlink Borrichia arborescens species noshow=1) of the West Indies. 6 # Plants of genus (taxlink Sarcocornia genus noshow=1) 7 # Plants of genus (taxlink Tecticornia genus noshow=1)

WordNet
samphire

n. fleshy maritime plant having fleshy stems with rudimentary scalelike leaves and small spikes of minute flowers; formerly used in making glass [syn: glasswort, Salicornia europaea]

Wikipedia
Samphire

Samphire is a name given to a number of succulent halophytes that tend to be associated with water bodies.

  • Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in the United Kingdom. This is probably the species mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear.
  • Golden samphire, Limbarda crithmoides is a coastal species with yellow flowers that grows across Eurasia.
  • Several species in the genus Salicornia
  • Blutaparon vermiculare, Central America, southeastern North America
  • Tecticornia, Australia
  • Sarcocornia, cosmopolitan.
Samphire (disambiguation)

Samphire is a name given to several unrelated, edible plants that grow in coastal areas.

Samphire may also refer to:

  • Samphire Hoe, Kent, England
  • Samphire Island, Tasmania, Australia
  • HMS Samphire (K128), a ship

Usage examples of "samphire".

Great Leaders: Governor Blizzard and Senator Bultitude and Milo Samphire and, always, the dazzle-sounding, radiogenic Winifred Marduc Homeward.

Also a Salicornia, or jointed Glasswort, or Saltwort, or Crabgrass, is sold as Samphire for a pickle, in the Italian oil shops.

Perhaps because I was not myself that morning it had been on the tip of my tongue to suggest beef and tetty pasties with pickled samphire for our supper.

Also a Salicornia, or jointed Glasswort, or Saltwort, or Crabgrass, is sold as Samphire for a pickle, in the Italian oil shops.

They hunted lizards and snakes and coneys, collected the juicy young pads of prickly pear and dug for tuberous roots in the dry tableland above the cliffs, picked samphire and watercress in the marshes by the margin of the river and waded out into the river's shallows and cast circular nets to catch fish, which they smoked on racks above fires built of creosote bush and pine chips.

Steeped in malted vinegar, the tender shoots make a good pickle and were often used as a substitute for Samphire in those parts of the coast where the latter did not abound, on which account the plant is also called Marsh Samphire.

Along the old river road, street merchants sold fresh fish and oysters and mussels from tanks, and freshly steamed lobsters and spiny crabs, samphire and lotus roots and water chestnuts, bamboo and little red bananas and several kinds of kelp, milk from tethered goats, spices, pickled walnuts, fresh fruit and grass juice, ice, jewelry made of polished shells, black seed pearls, caged birds, bolts of brightly patterned cloth, sandals made from the worn rubber tread of steam wagon tires, cheap plastic toys, tape recordings of popular .

Along the old river road, street merchants sold fresh fish and oysters and mussels from tanks, and freshly steamed lobsters and spiny crabs, samphire and lotus roots and water chestnuts, bamboo and little red bananas and several kinds of kelp, milk from tethered goats, spices, pickled walnuts, fresh fruit and grass juice, ice, jewelry made of polished shells, black seed pearls, caged birds, bolts of brightly patterned cloth, sandals made from the worn rubber tread of steam wagon tires, cheap plastic toys, tape recordings of popular ballads or .

With a knife obtained from the cottage on the cliff, she sliced at some vegetation, hacking off scurvy grass and the fleshy leaves of samphire.