n. A climbing leguminous plant of Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific Islands, whose roots are a source of rotenone.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. any of various usually woody vines of the genus Derris of tropical Asia whose roots yield the insecticide rotenone; several are sources of native fish and arrow poisons
Word Usage
"For example, rotenone, an insecticide derived from a tropical root called derris, is as poisonous to humans as organophosphate chemical pesticides."