Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
tropical plant of thegenus Dieffenbachia .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dumbcane.
Examples
-
• Give away poisonous houseplants (poinsettias, dumbcane, dieffenbacia, philodendrons, calla lilies, mistletoe, and hyacinths, to name a few), or ask friends to take care of them until your child is older.
Tip of the Day: Spring cleaning for a healthier, safer home 2007
-
• Give away poisonous houseplants poinsettias, dumbcane, dieffenbacia, philodendrons, calla lilies, mistletoe, and hyacinths, to name a few, or ask friends to take care of them until your child is older.
Tip of the Day: Spring cleaning for a healthier, safer home 2007
-
The common houseplant dieffenbachia, known colloquially as dumbcane, indicates the practical effect of his surgery.
Knotted Tongues Benson Bobrick 1995
-
Notwithstanding his otherwise respectable place in medical history, his name, in uncomplimentary fashion, has been given to the common houseplant dieffenbachia, or dumbcane—so called because its stalk contains oxalates that can render a person speechless from inflammation of the tongue and throat.
Knotted Tongues Benson Bobrick 1995
-
The common houseplant dieffenbachia, known colloquially as dumbcane, indicates the practical effect of his surgery.
Knotted Tongues Benson Bobrick 1995
-
Notwithstanding his otherwise respectable place in medical history, his name, in uncomplimentary fashion, has been given to the common houseplant dieffenbachia, or dumbcane—so called because its stalk contains oxalates that can render a person speechless from inflammation of the tongue and throat.
Knotted Tongues Benson Bobrick 1995
-
A third plant was Dieffenbachia seguine, the common “dumbcane” of Jamaica.
The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985
mollusque commented on the word dumbcane
A tropical American plant Dieffenbachia that causes swelling of the tongue when chewed.
October 4, 2008