Adam's needle

noun

: an often cultivated yucca (Yucca filamentosa) of coastal pine barrens of the eastern U.S. with a basal rosette of sharp-tipped leaves having loose threads along the margins

Word History

Etymology

after adam entry 1, in reference to the fig leaves sewn by Adam and Eve after their temptation by the serpent (Genesis 3:7)

First Known Use

1730, in the meaning defined above