abaca
Americannoun
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a Philippine plant, Musa textilis.
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the fiber of this plant, used in making rope, fabrics, etc.
noun
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a Philippine plant, Musa textilis, related to the banana: family Musaceae. Its leafstalks are the source of Manila hemp
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another name for Manila hemp
Etymology
Origin of abaca
1810–20; < Spanish < Tagalog abaká
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
From a helicopter, “we saw the devastation of coconuts, abaca and the forests. There are lots of houses without roofs,” Lorenzana said by text message.
From Washington Times • Dec. 27, 2016
The artist Randy Brozen will lead the workshop, showing young artists how to make paper from the fibers of cotton and abaca, a type of banana tree that grows in the Philippines.
From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2014
A little further on, we pass an older man in a Diesel T-shirt, shredding abaca bark to make twine.
From Slate • Feb. 29, 2012
Manila hemp comes from abaca, a plant much like the one bananas grow on.
From Time Magazine Archive
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He led the way through the long rows of abaca which drooped listless fronds in the quivering heat, and into the cool woods which surrounded his fields.
From Terry A Tale of the Hill People by Thomson, Charles Goff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.