squirting cucumber

American  

noun

1. a Mediterranean plant, Ecballium elaterium, of the gourd family, whose ripened fruit forcibly ejects the seeds and juice.

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squirting cucumber British  

noun

1. a hairy cucurbitaceous plant, Ecballium elaterium , of the Mediterranean region, having a fruit that discharges its seeds explosively when ripe

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Etymology

Origin of squirting cucumber

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

This revealed that the seed projection method of the squirting cucumber has been fine-tuned to ensure near-optimal dispersal and the success of the plant over generations.

From Science Daily • Nov. 25, 2024

A team led by the University of Oxford has solved a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries: how does the squirting cucumber squirt?

From Science Daily • Nov. 25, 2024

Elaterium, a drug obtained from the mucus of the fruit of the squirting cucumber; is a most powerful purgative, and was known to the ancients.

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin

ELATERIUM, a drug consisting of a sediment deposited by the juice of the fruit of Ecballium Elaterium, the squirting cucumber, a native of the Mediterranean region.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 2 "Ehud" to "Electroscope" by Various

Naturally, the squirting cucumber knows its own business best, and is not without sufficient reasons of its own for this strange and, to some extent, unmannerly behaviour.

From Science in Arcady by Allen, Grant