Meaning

7 senses

  1. (countable, uncountable)Any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America.

  2. (countable, uncountable)An aromatic preparation for embalming the dead.

  3. (countable, uncountable)A plant or tree yielding such substance.

  4. (countable, uncountable)Any soothing oil or lotion, especially an aromatic one.

    any of various aromatic resinous substances used for healing and soothing

  5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)Something soothing.

    Classical music is a sweet balm for our sorrows.

  6. (countable, uncountable)The lemon balm, Melissa officinalis.

  7. (countable, uncountable)Any of a number of other aromatic herbs with a similar citrus-like scent, such as bee balm and horsebalm.

Examples

12 sentences

  1. You lose your lip balm again?

    DJ_Saidez · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Did you lose your lip balm again?

    DJ_Saidez · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. There is lemon balm in my garden.

    LdjuherTaqvaylit · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. My lips are dry. I need lip balm immediately.

    rafaeldejesus8199 · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I always keep lip balm with me in the winter.

    magnificentgoddess · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, f

Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam and desman.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: balms
Singularbalm
Pluralbalms

regular

Synonyms

5 synonyms
balsam
Close in meaning
  • semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation:ointmentunctionunguentsalve

Word family

11 related words
Relatedbalmy
Derivedbalmlessbalmlikebalm teabalmyardbasil balmbeard balmembalmheart balmlip balmtiger balm

Lessons for this word

1 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
ballroombalmybaloneybamboo

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

balm — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto