WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
mox•a
(mok′sə),USA pronunciation n.
- a flammable substance or material obtained from the leaves of certain Chinese and Japanese wormwood plants, esp. Artemisia moxa.
- this substance or a similar one of cotton, wool, or the like, placed on the skin usually in the form of a cone or cylinder and ignited for use as a counterirritant.
- Japanese mogusa, equivalent. to mo(y)e burn + -gusa, combining form of kusa herb
- by uncertain mediation 1670–80