wait-a-bit

American  

[weyt-uh-bit] / ˈweɪt əˌbɪt /

noun

1. any of various plants bearing thorns or prickly appendages, as the grapple plant or the greenbrier.

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wait-a-bit British  

noun

1. any of various plants having sharp hooked thorns or similar appendages, esp the greenbrier and the grapple plant

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Etymology

Origin of wait-a-bit

1775–85; translation of Afrikaans wag-'n-bietjie < Dutch wacht een beetje

Example Sentences

After a fourteen miles' march the troop reached the Zwart Kop river, and, crossing the ford, encamped among the scattered mimosas and numerous wait-a-bit thorns.

From Project Gutenberg

He suspected from this that they were some of the Swahilis of the party, and suspicion became certainty when Bill discovered a tiny strip of white cotton on a spike of a wait-a-bit thorn-bush.

From Project Gutenberg

He might indeed scramble over at the expense of torn hands and clothing, though there was the danger of being held fast by the tenacious wait-a-bit thorns of which the obstacle was made.

From Project Gutenberg

The British call them "wait-a-bit" thorns, and under either name they are equally dangerous.

From Project Gutenberg

The various acacias, hack-thorn, wait-a-bit, hook-and-stick thorn, and the common thorny acacia, with its long, smooth ivory needles, were all putting forth their round, sweet-scented blooms, some greenish, some yellow, against the coming of the rains.

From Project Gutenberg