TUSSOCKS

Noun

tussocks

plural of tussock

Source: Wiktionary


TUSSOCK

Tus"sock, n. Etym: [From Tuz.] [Written also tussuck.]

1. A tuft, as of grass, twigs, hair, or the like; especially, a dense tuft or bunch of grass or sedge. Such laying of the hair in tussocks and tufts. Latimer.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: Same as Tussock grass, below.

3. (Zoöl.)

Definition: A caterpillar of any one of numerous species of bombycid moths. The body of these caterpillars is covered with hairs which form long tufts or brushes. Some species are very injurious to shade and fruit trees. Called also tussock caterpillar. See Orgyia. Tussock grass. (Bot.) (a) A tall, strong grass of the genus Dactylis (D. cæspitosa), valuable for fodder, introduced into Scotland from the Falkland Islands. (b) A tufted grass (Aira cæspitosa). (c) Any kind of sedge (Carex) which forms dense tufts in a wet meadow or boggy place.

– Tussock moth (Zoöl.), the imago of any tussock caterpillar. They belong to Orgyia, Halecidota, and allied genera.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 December 2024

ROOT

(noun) (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; “thematic vowels are part of the stem”


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The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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