Dictionary
Thesaurus
Medical
Scrabble®
Spanish Central
Browse DictionaryBrowse Thesaurus
Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android
Games
Word of the Day
Video
Blog: Words at Play
My Faves
Dictionary

samphire

noun sam·phire \ˈsam-ˌfī(-ə)r\

Definition of SAMPHIRE

1
:  a fleshy European seacoast plant (Crithmum maritimum) of the carrot family that is sometimes pickled
2
:  a common glasswort (Salicornia europaea) that is sometimes pickled
ADVERTISEMENT

Origin of SAMPHIRE

alteration of earlier sampiere, from Middle French (herbe de) Saint Pierre, literally, St. Peter's herb
First Known Use: 1545

Rhymes with SAMPHIRE

attire, backfire, bemire, catch fire, cross fire, denier, desire, entire, for hire, fox fire, Greek fire, grey friar, hang fire, hellfire, live wire, on fire, prior, rimfire, sapphire, sea fire, snow tire, town crier, trip wire, umpire, watch fire, white friar

Browse

4 ENTRIES FOUND:
  1. samphire
  2. golden samphire
  3. marsh samphire
  4. rock samphire
Next Word in the Dictionary: sample (noun)Previous Word in the Dictionary: sampanAll Words Near: samphire
ADVERTISEMENT
10 Charming Words for Nasty People
Put-downs with flair
Learn More
When "Literally" isn't, well, literal
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.
Watch Now
Know what this is?
Test your vocab with our fun, fast game
Go Play
Fear of cats?
Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears
Learn More
Join Us
Merriam-Webster
on Facebook
Merriam-Webster
on Twitter
Bookstore: Digital and Print
Merriam-Webster references for Mobile, Kindle, print, and more.
See All
Other Merriam-Webster Dictionaries