clove

A very pungent aromatic spice, the unexpanded flower bud of the clove tree.

A clove tree, of the species Syzygium aromaticum (syn. Caryophyllus aromaticus), native to the Moluccas (Indonesian islands), which produces the spice.

An old English measure of weight, containing 7 pounds (3.2 kg), i.e. half a stone.

Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6+¹⁄₂ tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. The 'Pathway' points out the etymology of the word cloves; it calls them ' claves or nails.' It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.

By a statute of 9 Hen. VI. it was ordained that the wey of cheese should contain 32 cloves of 7 lbs. each, i.e. 224 lbs., or 2 cwts.

One of the small bulbs formed in the axils of the scales of a large bulb.

clove of garlic, garlic clove, clove of a sea-onion, clove of shallot, cloves of bulbs

A narrow valley with steep sides, used in areas of North America first settled by the Dutch