Nepenthes \Ne*pen"thes\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?. See {Nepenthe}.] 1. Same as {Nepenthe}. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. (Bot.) A genus of climbing plants found in tropical areas of India, Malaya, Australia, etc., which have the leaves prolonged into a kind of stout tendril terminating in a pitcherlike appendage, whence the plants are often called {pitcher plants} and {monkey-cups}. There are about thirty species, of which the best known is {Nepenthes distillatoria}. See {Pitcher plant}. [1913 Webster]