croton

American  

[kroht-n] / ˈkroʊt n /

noun

1. any of numerous chiefly tropical plants constituting the genus Croton, of the spurge family, several species of which, as C. tiglium, have important medicinal properties.

2. (among florists) any plant of the related genus Codiaeum (orPhyllaurea ) cultivated for its ornamental foliage.

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croton British  

/ ˈkrəʊtən /

noun

1. any shrub or tree of the chiefly tropical euphorbiaceous genus Croton, esp C. tiglium, the seeds of which yield croton oil

2. any of various tropical plants of the related genus Codiaeum, esp C. variegatum pictum, a house plant with variegated foliage

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Etymology

Origin of croton

1745–55; < New Latin < Greek krotṓn a tick, also the castor-oil plant, which has berries likened to ticks

Example Sentences

The spiraling hedges are planted with gold dust croton, a leafy green plant dotted with yellow.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 26, 2023

This was a hardy sexagenarian named George Heis, for whom the only consequences of a late evening snack of beer, pancakes, spinach, arsenic and croton oil, prepared by Mrs. Hahn, was partial paralysis and indigestion.

From Time Magazine Archive

Coconut and royal palms, hibiscus, croton, flame vines, night-blooming jasmine shroud mile upon serpentine mile of streets and lanes and waterways.

From Time Magazine Archive

Aunty Ifeoma asked me to join them in the garden, to carefully pick out leaves that had started to wilt on the croton plants.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I stuttered and gripped hard at some fresh croton leaves, pulling them off, watching the viscous liquid drip from their stalks.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie