HEMLOCK FIRE -- There's a killer for you.
hemlock (hèm´lòk´) noun
1. a. Any of various coniferous evergreen trees of the genus Tsuga of North America and eastern Asia, having small cones and short, flat leaves with two white bands underneath. b. The wood of such trees, used as a source of lumber, wood pulp, and tannic acid.
2. a. Any of several poisonous plants of the genera Conium and Cicuta, such as the poison hemlock. b. A poison obtained from the poison hemlock.
[Middle English hemlok, poisonous hemlock, from Old English hymlice, hemlic.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved.
It is also listed in the Thesaurus under "means of execution."
means of execution, scaffold, block, gallows, noose, gibbet, gallows tree cross stake Tarpeian rock hemlock, POISON...
The Original Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Americanized Version) is licensed from Longman Group UK Limited. Copyright © 1994 by Longman Group UK Limited. All rights reserved.