devil's milk
- noun
- UK
:
leche del diablo
- Watch out! Devil's milk can irritate the skin!
Examples
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We found a patch of devil's milk growing beside the footpath in the park.
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Many gardeners consider devil's milk a nuisance.
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Some gardeners try to remove devil's milk before it spreads across the lawn.
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The bright yellow flowers of devil's milk always seem to face the sun.
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Some gardeners try to remove devil's milk before it spreads across the lawn.
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We found a patch of devil's milk growing beside the footpath in the park.
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Many gardeners consider devil's milk a nuisance due to its rapid growth.
Synonyms
A small common plant with yellow-green flowers that turn toward the sun
A small weed from Europe with yellow-green flowers that turn toward the sun
A small European wildflower with flowers that face the sun and is thought to cure warts
Surface Forms
Morphology
devil's + milk
The components 'devil' (suggesting something harmful or dangerous) and 'milk' (a milky liquid) allow a learner to infer a harmful milky substance — plausibly the sap of a plant — so some of the meaning is predictable from the parts. However, the phrase is a lexicalized name for a specific weed (Euphorbia) and that specific botanical reference and conventional usage are not fully derivable from the constituents, making it only partially transparent to learners.
Etymology
Devil's milk is the name for a common weed that, when you break it, gives out a white, milky 'sap'. People called it devil's milk because the sticky, skin‑irritating milk looked dangerous or 'evil', so the name explains why we use it for a harmful plant.
