milk vetch

3 definitions found

milk vetch - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Milk vetch \Milk" vetch`\ (Bot.)
     A leguminous herb (Astragalus glycyphyllos) of Europe and
     Asia, supposed to increase the secretion of milk in goats.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The name is sometimes taken for the whole genus
           Astragalus, of which there are about two hundred
           species in North America, and even more elsewhere.
           [1913 Webster]

  Astragalus \As*trag"a*lus\, n. [L. See Astragal.]
     1. (Anat.) The ankle bone, or hock bone; the bone of the
        tarsus which articulates with the tibia at the ankle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Bot.) A genus of papilionaceous plants, of the tribe
        Galege[ae], containing numerous species, two of which
        are called, in English, milk vetch and licorice vetch.
        Gum tragacanth is obtained from different oriental
        species, particularly the Astragalus gummifer and
        Astragalus verus.
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     3. (Arch.) See Astragal, 1.
        [1913 Webster]

milk vetch - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  milk vetch
      n 1: any of various plants of the genus Astragalus [syn: milk vetch
           , milk-vetch]