beggar-ticks

or beg·gar's-ticks

[ beg-er-tiks ]

noun,plural beg·gar-ticks.(used with a singular or plural verb)

any of several composite plants of the genus Bidens, having rayless yellow flowers and barbed achenes that cling to clothing.
the achenes of these plants.

any of several other plants having seeds or fruits that cling to clothing, as those of the genus Desmodium.

Origin of beggar-ticks

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Words Nearby beggar-ticks

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use beggar-ticks in a sentence

It was overrun with Roman wormwood and beggar-ticks, which last stuck to my clothes for all fruit.
Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience | Henry David Thoreau

British Dictionary definitions for beggar-ticks

beggar-ticks

noun(functioning as singular)

any of various plants, such as the bur marigold and tick trefoil, having fruits or seeds that cling to clothing, fur, etc
the seed or fruit of any of these plants

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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