Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hemlock"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Hemlock
(1.) Heb. rosh (Hos. 10:4; rendered "gall" in Deut. 29:18;
32:32; Ps. 69:21; Jer. 9:15; 23:15; "poison," Job 20:16;
"venom," Deut. 32:33). "Rosh is the name of some poisonous plant
which grows quickly and luxuriantly; of a bitter taste, and
therefore coupled with wormwood (Deut. 29:18; Lam. 3:19). Hence
it would seem to be not the hemlock cicuta, nor the colocynth or
wild gourd, nor lolium darnel, but the poppy so called from its
heads" (Gesenius, Lex.).
(2.) Heb. la'anah, generally rendered "wormwood" (q.v.), Deut.
29:18, Text 17; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; 23:15. Once it is rendered
"hemlock" (Amos 6:12; R.V., "wormwood"). This Hebrew word is
from a root meaning "to curse," hence the accursed.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hemlock \Hem"lock\, n. [OE. hemeluc, humloc, AS. hemlic,
hymlic.]
1. (Bot.) The name of several poisonous umbelliferous herbs
having finely cut leaves and small white flowers, as the
{Cicuta maculata}, {bulbifera}, and {virosa}, and the
{Conium maculatum}. See {Conium}.
Note: The potion of hemlock administered to Socrates is by
some thought to have been a decoction of {Cicuta
virosa}, or water hemlock, by others, of {Conium
maculatum}.
2. (Bot.) An evergreen tree common in North America ({Abies,
or Tsuga, Canadensis}); hemlock spruce.
The murmuring pines and the hemlocks. --Longfellow.
3. The wood or timber of the hemlock tree.
{Ground hemlock}, or {Dwarf hemlock}. See under {Ground}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hemlock
n 1: poisonous drug derived from an Eurasian plant of the genus
Conium; "Socrates refused to flee and died by drinking
hemlock"
2: large branching biennial herb native to Eurasia and Africa
and adventive in North America having large fernlike
leaves and white flowers; usually found in damp habitats;
all parts extremely poisonous [syn: {poison hemlock}, {poison
parsley}, {California fern}, {Nebraska fern}, {winter fern},
{Conium maculatum}]
3: soft coarse splintery wood of a hemlock tree especially the
western hemlock
4: an evergreen tree [syn: {hemlock tree}]
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