manchineel
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of manchineel
1620–30; earlier mancinell, mançanilla < French mancenille and its source, Spanish manzanilla, diminutive of manzana apple, Old Spanish mazana < Latin ( māla ) Matiāna (apples) of Matius Roman author of a cooking manual (1st century b.c.)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s the manchineel tree,” Captain Smith says when things have quieted down.
From Literature
We had eaten the fruit of the manchineel, the world’s deadliest tree.
From The New Yorker
You allow Celeste and James to survive their manchineel intake with a little burning sensation and vomiting—nothing too serious.
From The New Yorker
When I was researching the manchineel online, I found some pretty terrifying message boards and read about people who had eaten several whole fruits, even one young woman who had to have a pacemaker installed after eating the apple.
From The New Yorker
But such experiences are not that uncommon as vacations go, so it wasn’t until I discovered the prune de Cythère and its strange kinship with the manchineel that I saw the rough outlines of a story.
From The New Yorker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
