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any chiefly African shrub belonging to the genus Aloe, of the lily family, certain species of which yield a fiber.
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aloes, (used with a singular verb) .
Contemporary Examples

Amenities are plentiful—from sun block to aloe for the sun, or the complimentary mini bar for your enjoyment.
Gal With a Suitcase Jolie Hunt February 19, 2011

Historical Examples

There are no walls, but great hedges of aloe and prickly pear serve as a sterner landmark.
The Isle of Unrest Henry Seton Merriman

Now the aloe, you know, is of a cumbersome height for a supper ornament.
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10) Maria Edgeworth

An aloe plant, a few palm leaves and some alfa grass are thrown together on one spot.
Plays by August Strindberg, Third Series August Strindberg

It had no gate but a gap in the fence, and no fence but a hedge of the prickly pear and the aloe.
The Scapegoat Hall Caine

Among the plants I noticed the American aloe (argave Americana), which is otherwise called maguey.
What I Saw in California Edwin Bryant

Near the top were laid sandal, aloe, and other kinds of fragrant wood.
Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms Fa-Hsien

This aloe may be ground also in oil by itself, or with the Verdegris, or any other colour, at pleasure.
A Treatise on Painting Leonardo Da Vinci

The quality and goodness of this aloe will be proved by dissolving it in warm Brandy.
A Treatise on Painting Leonardo Da Vinci

The ancient Mexicans before Pizarro’s time used the leaves of the aloe for a similar purpose.
The Pearl of India Maturin M. Ballou

noun (pl) -oes
any plant of the liliaceous genus Aloe, chiefly native to southern Africa, with fleshy spiny-toothed leaves and red or yellow flowers
American aloe, another name for century plant
n.

Old English alewe “fragrant resin of an East Indian tree,” a Biblical usage, from Latin aloe, from Greek aloe, translating Hebrew ahalim (plural, perhaps ultimately from a Dravidian language).

The Greek word probably was chosen for resemblance of sound to the Hebrew, because the Greek and Latin words referred originally to a genus of plants with spiky flowers and bitter juice, used as a purgative drug, a sense which appeared in English late 14c. The word was then misapplied to the American agave plant in 1680s. The “true aloe” consequently is called aloe vera.

aloe al·oe (āl’ō)
n.

Any of various chiefly African plants of the genus Aloe, having rosettes of succulent, often spiny-margined leaves and long stalks bearing yellow, orange, or red tubular flowers.

Aloe vera.

Any of various laxative drugs obtained from the processed juice of a certain species of aloe.