spurge

noun

: any of a family (Euphorbiaceae) of widely distributed herbs, shrubs, and trees often with a bitter milky juice
especially : euphorbia

Examples of spurge in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Meanwhile, after the 15-year, $765 million spurge on Soto, Stearns has been content to dole out only short term contracts to fill the Mets needs: Jose Quintana and Luis Severino have been replaced in the starting rotation by Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas — on the surface hardly an upgrade. Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 25 Jan. 2025 Another class of plants to watch out for is the spurge family, which includes leafy spurge and spotted spurge. Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 5 June 2024 On the other hand, none of the ragweed, black mustard, spotted spurge, arborvitae, corncockle, rye brome, American burnweed, or broadleaf plantain seeds sprouted. Kate Golembiewski, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024 The beans are actually seed pods from a shrub native to Mexico and are more closely related to spurges than legumes, despite being colloquially known as beans. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 9 Feb. 2023 See all Example Sentences for spurge 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French espurge, spurge, from espurger to clean out, purge, from Latin expurgare — more at expurgate

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of spurge was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near spurge

Cite this Entry

“Spurge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spurge. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.

Medical Definition

spurge

noun
: any of various mostly shrubby plants (family Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, and especially genus Euphorbia) that have a bitter milky juice and that include several which have been used medicinally see ipecac spurge

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