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.
&fist; 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.
