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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

duckweed

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

But using it to grow duckweed could solve a number of problems and be beneficial to farmers according to Dr Dylan Gwynn-Jones, who is leading the project at Aberystwyth University.

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

The supplies in the granaries were, however, hardly needed: the winter was exceptionally mild, and the voles were generally able to obtain duckweed and watercress for food.

From Creatures of the Night A Book of Wild Life in Western Britain by Alfred Wellesley Rees

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