cat's-claw

American  

[kats-klaw] / ˈkætsˌklɔ /

noun

1. a spiny shrub or small tree, Pithecellobium unguis-cati, of Central America, having greenish-yellow flowers and reddish, spirally twisted pods.

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Etymology

Origin of cat's-claw

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cat's-claw

Every night on the trail and at every camp she tried to leave some mark for the whites—a scratch on pebble or stone, a bit of marked yucca or a twisted cat's-claw.

From The Heart of the Desert Kut-Le of the Desert by Morrow, Honoré

Now and then they would find a piece of his clothing and see places where he had run into the fox-tail cactus, cat's-claw and other thorny bushes.

From Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle The Father and Founder of the British Mission by Whitney, Orson F.

But after a few steps she found running impossible, for the slope was a wilderness of rock, thickly grown with cholla and yucca with here and there a thicker growth of cat's-claw.

From The Heart of the Desert Kut-Le of the Desert by Morrow, Honoré

There was little said after that until they came abreast of the cat's-claw near the road.

From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 1, May 1908 by Various

Well known cat's-claw and cactus clumps had disappeared.

From The Forbidden Trail by Morrow, Honoré