catclaw

American  

[kat-klaw] / ˈkætˌklɔ /

noun

1. a prickly plant, Schrankia nutallii, of the legume family, native to the midwestern U.S. having pinnate leaves and tiny pink flowers forming a spherical cluster.

2. cat's-claw.

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Etymology

Origin of catclaw

cat ( def. ) + claw

Example Sentences

My 10-year-old daughter was skipping around the garden of indigenous plants at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center in Southern California and then, a minute later, “MOMMMMY!” from somewhere behind a catclaw acacia.

From New York Times

It moved here, to remote ranchlands where even the plant names — catclaw, saltbush, snakeweed — sound forbidding.

From Time

A few days’ work, while he was waiting for his powder, would clear out the worst of the cactus and catclaws and give him free access to his hole.

From Project Gutenberg

She gathered ironwood and catclaw while he watched her vigilantly.

From Project Gutenberg

He fell into a bush of catclaw cactus.

From Project Gutenberg