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boys-and-girls

boys-and-girls

9.9
An annual plant sometimes considered a weed, once used in medicine to make people pass water or clear the bowels
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : hierba de mercurio
  • The medicinal properties of boys-and-girls were used to treat various ailments in the past.
  • adolescent boys-and-girls
  • identity among boys-and-girls

Examples

  • Most of the boys and girls in same-sex classes perceived that those classes had more intense competition than coeducational classes.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Boys and girls enjoy action and adventure, science fiction, and nonfiction similarly (Woolcott, 2001, p. 42).

    Academic text (2005)
  • Hey, all you boys and girls out there!

  • There was an even split of boys and girls.

    Academic text (2009)
  • What we want: Boys and girls talk about reading.

    Academic text (2012)
  • All the little boys and girls are tucked in bed.

  • Finally, it was interesting to note the differences in the level of enjoyment between boys and girls in physical education.

    Academic text (2005)
  • In addition, the association between achievement behavior and athletic identity differs for boys and girls.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Boys and girls, Tannen said, "grow up in different worlds, even if they grow up in the same house."

    Academic text (2012)
  • Boys and girls in this study did not differ in their amount of sport participation and had similar athletic identity scores.

    Academic text (2005)

Synonyms

Mercurialis annua
vsboys-and-girls
  • Specialized
9.9

A small annual herb from Europe and North Africa that often grows as a weed

is the same species but names it more generally without region detail
herb mercury
vsboys-and-girls
  • UK
9.9

A small yearly weed once used in herbal medicine to make people throw up or pass water

is the scientific species label rather than a folk or common name

Surface Forms

boys-and-girls singular

Etymology

Boys-and-girls is a folk name for the annual plant Mercurialis annua that comes from the fact that the species has separate 'male' and 'female' plants, so people thought of them as 'boys' and 'girls'. So, the name now refers to that plant, which was once used in simple medicines.