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
The fibres of the abaca are employed in making the finest and most delicate fabrics, of which from three to four million dollars’ worth are exported annually.
From The Boys of '98 by James Otis
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.
