Definition of "motherwort" []

• Any of several Eurasian plants of the genus Leonurus, especially L. cardiaca, a weed having clusters of small purple or pink flowers and spine-tipped calyx lobes. (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.

• "“‘In the Court of the Inquisition, a motherwort was a person who assisted in apprehending and imprisoning the accused.’”"
• "Oh, no, thought Miss Trent, and only just managed, by a quick turn of the wrist, to avert a motherwort deluge."
• "It suited Miss Trent, however, and she always found motherwort tea soothing."