styptic weed
- noun
- Specialized
:
hierba estíptica
- The seeds of the styptic weed have been used to adulterate coffee in some regions.
Examples
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She was surprised by the pungent odor of the styptic weed while hiking through the tropics.
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Botanists sometimes classify styptic weed in the genus Cassia due to its characteristics.
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The styptic weed is known for its medicinal properties.
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Have you ever heard of styptic weeds?
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The seeds of the styptic weed are sometimes added to coffee to enhance the flavor.
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While hiking in the rainforest, I noticed the strong smell of the styptic weed nearby.
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Local herbalists often use the leaves of the styptic weed for traditional remedies.
Synonyms
A tropical shrub with many leaves whose seeds smell bad and people use to make cheap coffee
A tropical bush with many leaves that smells unpleasant and whose seeds are sometimes mixed with coffee
A leafy tropical shrub with a strong bad smell whose seeds are sometimes mixed with coffee
A tropical shrub whose seeds are sometimes roasted and used as fake coffee
A tropical shrub with a strong unpleasant smell
How Strong-Smelling
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound denotes a weed that has styptic (bleeding-stopping) properties, so its meaning is directly compositional from 'styptic' + 'weed'. This follows a regular noun-noun compounding pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Styptic weed comes from its old use as a styptic, a simple medicine to 'stop bleeding', and from weed because it grows wild and common. That's why the name fits a strong-smelling tropical shrub whose seeds were sometimes mixed into coffee.