[W/K] :: mescal

  Maguey \Mag"uey\, n. [Sp. maguey, Mexican maguei and metl.]
     (Bot.)
     Any of several species of Agave, such as the century
     plant ({Agave Americana}), a plant requiring many years to
     come to maturity and blossoming only once before dying; and
     the Agave atrovirens, a Mexican plant used especially for
     making pulque, the source of the colorless Mexican liquor
     mescal; and the cantala ({Agave cantala), a Philippine
     plant yielding a hard fibre used in making coarse twine. See
     Agave.
     [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. A hard fibre used in making coarse twine, derived from the
        Philippine Agave cantala ({Agave cantala); also called
        cantala.
        [WordNet 1.5]

  Mescal \Mes*cal"\, n. [Sp.]
     A distilled liquor prepared in Mexico from a species of
     agave. See Agave.
     [1913 Webster]

  Agave \A*ga"ve\ ([.a]*g[=a]"v[-e]), prop. n. [L. Agave, prop.
     name, fr. Gr. 'agayh`, fem. of 'agayo`s illustrious, noble.]
     (Bot.)
     A genus of plants (order Amaryllidaceae) of which the chief
     species is the maguey or century plant ({Agave Americana),
     wrongly called Aloe. It takes from ten to seventy years,
     according to climate, to attain maturity, when it produces a
     gigantic flower stem, sometimes forty feet in height, and
     perishes. The juice has purgative and diuretic properties.
     The fermented juice is the pulque of the Mexicans;
     distilled, it yields mescal. A strong thread and a tough
     paper are made from the leaves, and the wood has many uses.
     [1913 Webster]

  mescal
       n 1: a small spineless globe-shaped cactus; source of mescal
            buttons [syn: mezcal, peyote, Lophophora williamsii]
       2: a colorless Mexican liquor distilled from fermented juices
          of certain desert plants of the genus Agavaceae
          (especially the century plant)