Ad"am (&?;), n.
1. The name
given in the Bible to
the first man, the progenitor of the human race.
2. (As a symbol) "Original
sin;" human frailty.
And whipped the offending Adam out of
him.
Shak.
Adam's ale,
water. [Coll.]
--
Adam's apple. 1. (Bot.) (a) A species of
banana (Musa
paradisiaca). It attains a height of twenty feet or more. Paxton.
(b) A species of lime (Citris limetta). 2.
The projection formed by the
thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called
from a notion that it was caused by
the forbidden fruit (an apple) sticking in the throat
of our first parent. -- Adam's flannel (Bot.),
the mullein (Verbascum
thapsus). -- Adam's needle (Bot.), the popular name of a genus (Yucca) of liliaceous plants.
Hear it pronounced