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

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

Rhoda yawned, rose sleepily, looked under her blanket and shook her, head irritably, then dragged her blankets toward the neighboring cat's-claw.

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

Yesterday it had slept unborn in a nook of the sand-hills, the abiding-place of cat's-claw, mesquit, and flickering lizards.

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

Besides these food plants of the desert, we have the cat's-claw, mesquite and cholla shrubs for fuel; the bear-grass and yuccas for camp-building.

From Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Great American Desert by Flower, Jessie Graham [pseud.]

Kut-le strolled over to a cat's-claw bush at whose base lay a tangle of dead leaves.

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