Male fern

male fern
    n 1: fern of North America and Europe whose rhizomes and stalks
         yield an oleoresin used to expel tapeworms [syn: {male
         fern}, {Dryopteris filix-mas}]
    

male fern \male fern\ n.
   A fern of North America and Europe ({Dryopteris filix-mas})
   whose rhizomes and stalks yield an oleoresin used to expel
   tapeworms. It is a member of the woodfern genus.
   [WordNet 1.5]
    

Male \Male\, a. [F. m[^a]le, OF. masle, mascle, fr. L. masculus
   male, masculine, dim. of mas a male; possibly akin to E. man.
   Cf. {Masculine}, {Marry}, v. t.]
   1. Of or pertaining to the sex that begets or procreates
      young, or (in a wider sense) to the sex that produces
      spermatozoa, by which the ova are fertilized; not female;
      as, male organs.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Bot.) Capable of producing fertilization, but not of
      bearing fruit; -- said of stamens and antheridia, and of
      the plants, or parts of plants, which bear them.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Suitable to the male sex; characteristic or suggestive of
      a male; masculine; as, male courage.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Consisting of males; as, a male choir.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Mech.) Adapted for entering another corresponding piece
      (the female piece) which is hollow and which it fits; as,
      a male gauge, for gauging the size or shape of a hole; a
      male screw, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Male fern} (Bot.), a fern of the genus {Aspidium} ({Aspidium
      Filixmas}), used in medicine as an anthelmintic, esp.
      against the tapeworm. {Aspidium marginale} in America, and
      {Aspidium athamanticum} in South Africa, are used as good
      substitutes for the male fern in medical practice. See
      {Female fern}, under {Female}.

   {Male rhyme}, a rhyme in which only the last syllables agree,
      as laid, afraid, dismayed. See {Female rhyme}, under
      {Female}.

   {Male screw} (Mech.), a screw having threads upon its
      exterior which enter the grooves upon the inside of a
      corresponding nut or female screw.

   {Male thread}, the thread of a male screw.
      [1913 Webster]