cu|beb

cu|beb «KYOO behb», noun.

1. the dried, unripe berry of a tropical shrub or climbing vine of the pepper family. Cubebs were formerly crushed and smoked in pipes or cigarettes for the treatment of catarrh. They are also used as a spice and still used as a medicine in Asia.

2. a cigarette containing the crushed berries.

╂[< Old French cubebe, learned borrowing from Medieval Latin cubeba < Arabic kabāba]