Now dial. [A sing. of kex, kecks, mistaken as a pl. form.] Any of the large Umbelliferæ, or their hollow stems: = KEX. Broad-leaved Keck, the Cow Parsnip (Heracleum Sphondylium); Trumpet-keck, ? Wild Angelica.
a. 1624. Bp. M. Smith, Serm. (1632), 234. The old man threw a dart; it had been as good he had thrown a kecke or a straw.
1706. Phillips, Kecks, dry Stalks.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., II. 100. Half hid in meadow-sweet and keck’s high flowers. Ibid. (1827), Sheph. Cal., etc. Last of Autumn, xi. Trumpet-kecks … Whose hollow stalks inspired such eager joy.
1887. S. Chesh. Gloss., s.v., As dry as a keck.
b. Comb., as keck-stalk; † keck-bugloss, some medicinal herb.
a. 1693. Urquhart, Rabelais, III. xxxi. The Fervency of Lust is abated by … Chastree, Mandrake, Bennet, Keck-buglosse [F. orchis le petit].
1821. Clare, Sonn. Night, in Vill. Minstr., II. 179. From keck-stalk cavity, or hollow bean.
