supple-jack Meaning, Definition & Usage

Sup"ple-jack` noun
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) (a) A climbing shrub (Berchemia volubilus) of the Southern United States, having a tough and pliable stem. (b) A somewhat similar tropical American plant (Paullinia Curassavica); also, a walking stick made from its stem.
    He was in form and spirit like a supple-jack, . . . yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never broke. W. Irving.
    ✍ This name is given to various plants of similar habit in different British colonies.

Webster 1913