fescue

[ fes-kyoo ]

noun

1. Also called fescue grass. any grass of the genus Festuca, some species of which are cultivated for pasture or lawns.
2. a pointer, as a straw or slender stick, used to point out the letters in teaching children to read.

fescue

/ ˈfɛskjuː /

noun

1. any grass of the genus Festuca : widely cultivated as pasture and lawn grasses, having stiff narrow leaves See also meadow fescue sheep's fescue

Word History and Origins

Origin of fescue¹

1350–1400; earlier festue, Middle English festu < Middle French < Vulgar Latin *festūcum, for Latin festūca stalk, straw

Word History and Origins

Origin of fescue¹

C14: from Old French festu , ultimately from Latin festūca stem, straw

Example Sentences

The reader is probably acquainted with the Fescue Grass, with its awned flowers arranged in one-sided panicles.

From Project Gutenberg

Meadow Fescue is one of the most common of the fescue grasses, and is said to be the Randall grass of Virginia.

From Project Gutenberg

The fescue (Festuca ovina), a little fern (Woodsia), and a saussurea ascend very near the summit.

From Project Gutenberg

A larger form, the Hard Fescue (F. duriuscula), is common to sound meadows and the hill valleys.

From Project Gutenberg

Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis, fig. 20) may be taken as the type of the broad-leaved fescues.

From Project Gutenberg