BALM • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Balm

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/bɑm/ /bɑlm/ Listen

noun

Balm n.

(Bot.) An aromatic plant of the genus Melissa.

The resinous and aromatic exudation of certain trees or shrubs.

Any fragrant ointment.

Anything that heals or that mitigates pain. "Balm for each ill."

Balm cricket (Zool.), the European cicada.

Balm of Gilead (Bot.), a small evergreen African and Asiatic tree of the terebinthine family (Balsamodendron Gileadense). Its leaves yield, when bruised, a strong aromatic scent; and from this tree is obtained the balm of Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca. This has a yellowish or greenish color, a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, and a fragrant smell. It is valued as an unguent and cosmetic by the Turks. The fragrant herb Dracocephalum Canariense is familiarly called balm of Gilead, and so are the American trees, Populus balsamifera, variety candicans (balsam poplar), and Abies balsamea (balsam fir).

verb

Balm v. t. To anoint with balm, or with anything medicinal. Hence: To soothe; to mitigate. (Archaic)

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Etymology of 'Balm'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Balm" Quotes from Famous Books

... Lady Barnes wandered through the transformed house, in general agreement as to the ugliness and extravagance of almost everything that had been done, an agreement that was as balm to the harassed spirits ...

— Marriage a la mode • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... Father Miguel, kindly; "abide with us a season. Thou art an old man and sorely spent. Such as we have thou shalt have, and if thy soul be distressed, we shall pour upon it the healing balm of our blessed faith." ...

— The Holy Cross and Other Tales • Eugene Field

... such emphasis, gave me great comfort; but to obtain more of that balm I said, "If she shouldn't intend to destroy the objects we speak of before her death she will probably have made some disposition ...

— The Aspern Papers • Henry James

... follow with her eyes and silent lips, was into an imaginary enlargement of the defence she had set up for her husband against Priscilla's implied blame. The vindication of the loved object is the best balm affection can find for its wounds:—"A man must have so much on his mind," is the belief by which a wife often supports a cheerful face under rough answers and unfeeling words. And Nancy's deepest wounds had all come from the perception that the absence of children from their hearth was dwelt ...

— Silas Marner - The Weaver of Raveloe • George Eliot

... And Aristippus more than Alexander; The doctors too their Galen here resign, And generally prescribe specific wine; The graduate's study's grown an easy task, While for the urinal they toss the flask; The surgeon's art grows plainer every hour, And wine's the balm which ...

— The True-Born Englishman - A Satire • Daniel Defoe

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