Lexic.us

Definition of Jack-in-the-pulpit

1. Noun. Common American spring-flowering woodland herb having sheathing leaves and an upright club-shaped spadix with overarching green and purple spathe producing scarlet berries.

2. Noun. Common European arum with lanceolate spathe and short purple spadix; emerges in early spring; source of a starch called arum.

Lexicographical Neighbors of Jack-in-the-pulpit

jacinth jacinthe jacinthes jacinths jack-a-dandies jack-a-dandy jack-a-lantern jack-a-napes jack-ball jack-by-the-hedge

jack-easy jack-fruit jack-in-the-box jack-in-the-boxes jack-in-the-pulpit (current term) jack-knife jack-knifed jack-knifes jack-knifing jack-knives

jack-o'-lantern jack-o'-lanterns jack-o-lantern jack-o-lantern fungus jack-of-the-dust jack-rabbit jack-staff jack-tar jack-up

Literary usage of Jack-in-the-pulpit

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. St. Nicholas by Mary Mapes Dodge (1892)
"I am also greatly interested in your kind friend " Jack-in-the- Pulpit," whose stories I love dearly. You are always so nice when you come to us, ..."

2. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant: Embracing English, American, and Anglo by Albert Barrère, Charles Godfrey Leland (1889)
"jack-in-the-pulpit (American), a man who obtrudes himself into a place for which he is unfitted ; as, for instance, an ignorant fellow who pretends to ..."

3. Handbook of Nature-study for Teachers and Parents: Based on the Cornell by Anna Botsford Comstock (1911)
"jack-in-the-pulpit prefers wet locations but is sometimes found on dry, ... jack-in-the-pulpit is a near cousin to the calla lily; the white part of the ..."

4. Nature in Verse: A Poetry Reader for Children by Mary Isabella Lovejoy (1895)
"JACK in the pulpit Preaches to-day Under the green trees Just over the way. Squirrel and song-sparrow High on their perch Hear the sweet lily-bells Ringing ..."

5. The American Botanist edited by Willard Nelson Clute (1905)
"VARYING SIZE OF jack-in-the-pulpit.—One of my students lately brought in a specimen of ... Jack in the Pulpit ..."

6. Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden by Ferdinand Schuyler Mathews (1895)
"Fruit of Jack-in- the-Pulpit. Jack-in-the-Pulpit. ively humorous. Certainly, the poet who wrote the verses about Jack in Lilliput Levee found something ..."

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