n :  a genus (family Rhamnaceae) of trees and shrubs that have pinnately veined leaves, small perfect or polygamous flowers with the ovary free from the disk, and a fruit which is a drupe and that comprise the buckthorns (as cascara buckthorn, R. purshiana) of which some yield pigments or purgatives (as cascara sagrada) .
 
 
 
Similar sounding terms:  rham·nose 
 
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