Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "horehound" [hore•hound]

  • An aromatic Eurasian plant (Marrubium vulgare) in the mint family, having square stems, opposite leaves with white pubescence, and numerous white flowers in axillary cymes. The leaves yield a bitter extract used in flavoring and as a cough remedy. (noun)
  • A candy or preparation flavored with this extract. (noun)
  • Any of similar or related plants, such as the black horehound. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "horehound" in a sentence
  • "The children have learned to identify wild edible and medicinal plants in our bioregion, helping to harvest prickly pear and banana yucca fruit each season, as well as to appreciate the healing benefits of juniper berries, snakeweed, mallow, horehound, and more."
  • "White horehound flowers end up garnishing a dish of razor clams."
  • "Each morning, Mr. Willetts cycles from his home nearby, stopping off along the way to pick vegetation such as honeysuckle, borage, sweet violets, horehound and meadowsweet, which will end up on one of the dishes at the restaurant later that day."