bouncing bet

3 definitions found

bouncing bet - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Soapwort \Soap"wort`\, n. (Bot.)
     A common plant (Saponaria officinalis) of the Pink family;
     -- so called because its bruised leaves, when agitated in
     water, produce a lather like that from soap. Called also
     Bouncing Bet.
     [1913 Webster]

  Bouncing \Boun"cing\, a.
     1. Stout; plump and healthy; lusty; buxom.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Many tall and bouncing young ladies.  --Thackeray.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Excessive; big. "A bouncing reckoning." --B. & Fl.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Bouncing Bet (Bot.), the common soapwort (Saponaria  officinalis
        ). --Harper's Mag.
        [1913 Webster]

bouncing bet - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  bouncing Bet
      n 1: plant of European origin having pink or white flowers and
           leaves yielding a detergent when bruised [syn: soapwort,
           hedge pink, bouncing Bet, bouncing Bess, Saponaria officinalis
           ]