Bugbane

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Actaea spp. (baneberry).

    "“What on earth did you put in that stuff?” “Bug-bane, barren-wort, penny-cress and blood-root, catchfly, toad-flax, nap-weed and wormwood,” said Catweazle."

  2. 2
    a plant of the genus Cimicifuga having flowers in long racemes or panicles reported to be distasteful to insects wordnet
  3. 3
    Trautvetteria spp.
  4. 4
    North American plant having large leaves and yellowish green flowers growing in racemes; yields a toxic alkaloid used medicinally wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
american helleboreindian pokeveratrum viridewhite helleborewhite hellebore

Example

More examples

"“What on earth did you put in that stuff?” “Bug-bane, barren-wort, penny-cress and blood-root, catchfly, toad-flax, nap-weed and wormwood,” said Catweazle."

Etymology

From bug + bane.

Related phrases

Carolina bugbane

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.