cogon

[koh-gohn]

noun

a tall, coarse grass, Imperata cylindrica, of the tropics and subtropics, used widely for thatching.

Origin of cogon

1895–1900; < Spanish < Tagalog kugon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cogon

Historical Examples of cogon

The country is fairly open, as there is no thick forest, but only scrub and cogon, or elephant grass.
The Inhabitants of the Philippines
Frederic H. Sawyer
The cogon grass in this river bottom was the tallest I ever saw, some clumps being well over twenty feet high.
The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon From Ifugao to Kalinga
Cornelis De Witt Willcox
A roof of cogon grass protects ten bundles of unthreshed rice, which lie on it.
The Tinguian
Fay-Cooper Cole
After the framework is complete, one side of the roof is covered with cogon grass, but the other is left incomplete.
The Tinguian
Fay-Cooper Cole
We have previously stated that the incursion of the cogon grass into the fields makes necessary some new clearings each year.
The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao
Fay-Cooper Cole

British Dictionary definitions for cogon

cogon

noun

any of the coarse tropical grasses of the genus Imperata, esp I. cylindrica and I. exaltata of the Philippines, which are used for thatching

Word Origin for cogon

from Spanish cogón, from Tagalog kugon

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