elephant grass

American  

noun

1. napier grass.

2. a cattail, Typha elephantina, of southern Asia, used for making rope and baskets.

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elephant grass British  

noun

1. any of various stout tropical grasses or grasslike plants, esp Pennisetum purpureum, and Typha elephantina, a type of reed mace

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Etymology

Origin of elephant grass

First recorded in 1825–35

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elephant grass

Jasmine gasped as she caught sight of three people on foot, stranded between billowing walls of flame devouring the haole koa and the towering stands of dry elephant grass.

From Slate ● Nov. 27, 2021

"At about 10:00 hours we were patrolling through elephant grass, which is roughly seven feet in height and visibility is limited," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2021

Plowing through thick elephant grass on the first day of the mission, Mate said, he felt calm and fearless.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2017

Our squad was leading as we hacked through elephant grass up to our waist and began the ascent up the mountain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2016

Now we were out where there were no more huts and the tall elephant grass started to get tangled up with the edge of the jungle.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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