Find the word definition

The Collaborative International Dictionary
sheep sorrel

Sorrel \Sor"rel\, n. [F. surelle, fr. sur sour, fr. OHG. s?r sour. See Sour.] (Bot.) One of various plants having a sour juice; especially, a plant of the genus Rumex, as Rumex Acetosa, Rumex Acetosella, etc. Mountain sorrel. (Bot.) See under Mountain. Red sorrel. (Bot.)

  1. A malvaceous plant ( Hibiscus Sabdariffa) whose acid calyxes and capsules are used in the West Indies for making tarts and acid drinks.

  2. A troublesome weed ( Rumex Acetosella), also called sheep sorrel.

    Salt of sorrel (Chem.), binoxalate of potassa; -- so called because obtained from the juice of Rumex Acetosella, or Rumex Axetosa.

    Sorrel tree (Bot.), a small ericaceous tree ( Oxydendrum arboreum) whose leaves resemble those of the peach and have a sour taste. It is common along the Alleghanies. Called also sourwood.

    Wood sorrel (Bot.), any plant of the genus Oxalis.

WordNet
sheep sorrel

n. small plant having pleasantly acid-tasting arrow-shaped leaves; common in dry places [syn: sheep's sorrel, Rumex acetosella]

Usage examples of "sheep sorrel".

And someday the one would not even be any longer the ghost of the man who had ordered the coins picked up and to the other the shame and anguish would no longer be a thing remembered and recallable but merely a breath a whisper like the bitter-sweet-sour taste of the sheep sorrel eaten by the boy in his dead childhood, remembered only in the instant of tasting and forgotten before it could be placed and remembered.

Little fine grasses turned out to be chives, local style, and tiny clover tasted and looked like sheep sorrel.