Find the word definition

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sour plum

Sour \Sour\, a. [Compar. Sourer; superl. Sourest.] [OE. sour, sur, AS. s?r; akin to D. zuur, G. sauer, OHG. s?r, Icel. s?rr, Sw. sur, Dan. suur, Lith. suras salt, Russ. surovui harsh, rough. Cf. Sorrel, the plant.]

  1. Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart.

    All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
    --Bacon.

  2. Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or musty, turned.

  3. Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish; morose; as, a man of a sour temper; a sour reply. ``A sour countenance.''
    --Swift.

    He was a scholar . . . Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
    --Shak.

  4. Afflictive; painful. ``Sour adversity.''
    --Shak.

  5. Cold and unproductive; as, sour land; a sour marsh.

    Sour dock (Bot.), sorrel.

    Sour gourd (Bot.), the gourdlike fruit Adansonia Gregorii, and A. digitata; also, either of the trees bearing this fruit. See Adansonia.

    Sour grapes. See under Grape.

    Sour gum (Bot.) See Turelo.

    Sour plum (Bot.), the edible acid fruit of an Australian tree ( Owenia venosa); also, the tree itself, which furnished a hard reddish wood used by wheelwrights.

    Syn: Acid; sharp; tart; acetous; acetose; harsh; acrimonious; crabbed; currish; peevish.

Usage examples of "sour plum".

Lantin ordered lobio tkemali as soon as they sat down, and the two of them munched on the tender kidney beans in a sour plum sauce redolent of fresh coriander while they perused the menu.

The male customer spoke, after clucking his tongue like someone sucking on a sour plum.

It formed little wet beads in the corners of their eyes and dried and cracked their skins so that H'ani and Centaine had to roast and crush the seeds of the sour plum tree to extract the oil to dress their skins and the soles of their feet.