GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Palm, n. [AS. palm, L. palma; -- so named fr. the leaf resembling a hand. See 1st Palm, and cf. Pam.]
   1913 Webster
   (Bot.) Any endogenous tree of the order Palmæ or Palmaceæ; a palm tree.
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   ☞ Palms are perennial woody plants, often of majestic size. The trunk is usually erect and rarely branched, and has a roughened exterior composed of the persistent bases of the leaf stalks. The leaves are borne in a terminal crown, and are supported on stout, sheathing, often prickly, petioles. They are usually of great size, and are either pinnately or palmately many-cleft. There are about one thousand species known, nearly all of them growing in tropical or semitropical regions. The wood, petioles, leaves, sap, and fruit of many species are invaluable in the arts and in domestic economy. Among the best known are the date palm, the cocoa palm, the fan palm, the oil palm, the wax palm, the palmyra, and the various kinds called cabbage palm and palmetto.
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   A branch or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing.
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   A great multitude . . . stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palme in their hands.
   Rev. vii. 9.
   
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   Hence: Any symbol or token of superiority, success, or triumph; also, victory; triumph; supremacy. “The palm of martyrdom.”
   Chaucer.
   
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   So get the start of the majestic world
   And bear the palm alone.
   Shak.
   
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   Molucca palm (Bot.), a labiate herb from Asia (Molucella lævis), having a curious cup-shaped calyx. -- Palm cabbage, the terminal bud of a cabbage palm, used as food. -- Palm cat (Zool.), the common paradoxure. -- Palm crab (Zool.), the purse crab. -- Palm oil, a vegetable oil, obtained from the fruit of several species of palms, as the African oil palm (Elæis Guineensis), and used in the manufacture of soap and candles. See Elæis. -- Palm swift (Zool.), a small swift (Cypselus Batassiensis) which frequents the palmyra and cocoanut palms in India. Its peculiar nest is attached to the leaf of the palmyra palm. -- Palm toddy. Same as Palm wine. -- Palm weevil (Zool.), any one of mumerous species of very large weevils of the genus Rhynchophorus. The larvæ bore into palm trees, and are called palm borers, and grugru worms. They are considered excellent food. -- Palm wine, the sap of several species of palms, especially, in India, of the wild date palm (Phœnix sylvestrix), the palmyra, and the Caryota urens. When fermented it yields by distillation arrack, and by evaporation jaggery. Called also palm toddy. -- Palm worm, or Palmworm. (Zool.) (a) The larva of a palm weevil. (b) A centipede.
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