duckweed

American  

[duhk-weed] / ˈdʌkˌwid /

noun

1. any plant of the family Lemnaceae, especially of the genus Lemna, comprising small aquatic plants that float free on still water.

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duckweed British  

/ ˈdʌkˌwiːd /

noun

1. any of various small stemless aquatic plants of the family Lemnaceae, esp any of the genus Lemna, that have rounded leaves and occur floating on still water in temperate regions

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Etymology

Origin of duckweed

1400–50; late Middle English dockewede; so called because eaten by ducks

Example Sentences

Tia-Lynn Ashman and Martin Turcotte, evolutionary ecologists at the University of Pittsburgh, have also studied polyploidy in duckweed populations.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 23, 2023

Second, duckweed can thrive in agricultural pollution from, say, pig and poultry farms—potentially cleaning up some of the nitrogen and phosphorus such farms release into the water.

From Scientific American • Jan. 25, 2023

The nutrients in the waste water also lead to quicker growth of the duckweed which could be used as a protein-rich feed for livestock.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2022

A warmer, calmer climate awaits just a few doors away in the warm tropics, where aquatic plants like duckweed, water poppy and lotus dance on the surface of a tank.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 29, 2022

She gathers fast the large duckweed, From valley stream that southward flows; And for the pondweed to the pools Left on the plains by floods she goes.

From The Wisdom of Confucius with Critical and Biographical Sketches by Wilson, Epiphanius