cattail
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cattail
First recorded in 1425–75, cattail is from the late Middle English word cattestail. See cat, tail 1
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.
See Examples For:
A short walk along an irrigation canal leads to a weathered observation deck rising two stories above a patchwork of saturated flats where saltgrass, iodine bush and cattail take root.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
The ogress’ seaweed-and-grass-tangled hair and cattail headband wreath a massive papier-mâché head on a body made of bamboo foliage.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Take the 1½-mile Swamp Trail to get the fullest view of the island: A boardwalk traverses a cattail marsh and swampy woodlands, while a gravel pathway wends through the forest.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2022
The moment of seeing this belted kingfisher on the tip of a cattail, doing its call, swooping across the creek—and being so present in that moment—made me realize that I can actually enjoy my job.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 5, 2020
When the fire was lit, he wrapped cattail tubers and trout in two large may- apple leaves and placed them in the oven.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
It was close to sunset when I took my shoes off and waded deep past the bank of reeds and cattails.
From Salon ● May 11, 2024
There were “a lot of dirt, branches, parts of buildings, fences, cattails from swamps — everything,” she said.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Inundating the land, and allowing the ancient bulrushes and cattails to return—or potentially cultivating rice—would stop those emissions immediately, and even store carbon as new plants grow.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 7, 2022
“It opens up a lot of places I can get to that are becoming difficult,” said Patrick McMonagle, who remembers when Northgate was marshes and cattails.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 26, 2021
Locke brushes his hand over the tops of cattails and bulrushes, looking abstracted.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
