mercury

A silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element (symbol Hg) with the atomic number 80; it is liquid at room temperature, and toxic.

Preceded by the: mercury (noun sense 1.1) as used in the column of a barometer or thermometer, its fall or rise thus indicating the decrease or increase of ambient pressure or temperature.

A preparation containing mercury (noun sense 1.1), especially calomel (mercurous chloride) or corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride), formerly used as a medicine to treat syphilis, etc.

One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals.

Liveliness, volatility.

An annual plant, now generally called annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), chiefly native to central and southern Europe which was formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury.

Any of several plants of the genus Mercurialis; specifically (obsolete), dog's mercury or wild mercury (Mercurialis perennis).

Allgood or Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus), a species of goosefoot native to central and southern Europe formerly cultivated as a vegetable but now generally regarded as a weed; English mercury, false mercury (obsolete).

Poison ivy or poison oak (genus Toxicodendron, especially the eastern poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) or Atlantic poison oak (Toxicodendron pubescens)).