culvers root

An American name for Veron ica virginica. cŭl-věr (2), s. [CULVERIN.] "Falcon and culver on each tower." Scott: Lay of the Last Minstrel , iv. 20. *cul-verd, s . [COWARD.] ( Wharton .) cul-ver-foot, s. [Mid. Eng. culver, and Eng. foot .] A plant, probably Geranium columbinum ( Prior ), or G. molle (Cockayne, also Britten & Hol land ). cŭl-ver-in, 8. [O. Fr. couleuvrine , fem. of couleuvrin =snake-like; couleuvre a snake, from Lat. colubrinus =snake-like; coluber =a snake.] Old Ordnance: A cannon of the sixteenth century, from 9 to 12 feet long, 51⁄2 inch bore, and carrying 18-pound round shot. A dem i-culverin was a 9-pounder. Cannon in those days were named after reptiles and rapacious animals; as, for instance, Culverin, serpent, from the snake ( coluber ), which was formed upon it to constitute handles. "Here and there, among the shrubs and flowers, may be seen the old culverins which scattered bricks, cased with lead, among the Irish ranks."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xii.