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rhizome

American  
[rahy-zohm] / ˈraɪ zoʊm /

noun

Botany.

  1. a rootlike subterranean stem, commonly horizontal in position, that usually produces roots below and sends up shoots progressively from the upper surface.

rhizome British  
/ ˈraɪzəʊm, -ˈzəʊ-, raɪˈzɒmətəs /

noun

  1. Also called: rootstock.   rootstalk.  a thick horizontal underground stem of plants such as the mint and iris whose buds develop new roots and shoots

"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
rhizome Scientific  
/ rī′zōm′ /

  1. A plant stem that grows horizontally under or along the ground and often sends out roots and shoots. New plants develop from the shoots. Ginger, iris, and violets have rhizomes.

  2. Also called rootstock

  3. Compare bulb corm runner tuber

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of rhizome

1835–45; < New Latin rhizoma < Greek rhízōma root, stem, noun of result from rhizoûn to fix firmly, take root, derivative of rhíza root 1

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Vocabulary lists containing rhizome

Plants (Botany) - Middle School

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Plants (Botany) - High School

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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.

Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. at Rhizome DC, 6950 Maple St. NW. rhizomedc.org. $10-$25 sliding scale.

From Washington Post • Aug. 31, 2022

Kristopher McDowell, a founding partner of Rhizome Consulting, which is producing the tour, said the Kyiv City Ballet would like to share Ukrainian stories with young Americans through workshops, master classes and conversations between dancers.

From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2022

The version of Live Skull that performed Saturday at Rhizome included just two of the many musicians who played with the post-punk group during some or all of its original 1982-1990 run.

From Washington Post • Dec. 5, 2021

“I think I’m probably going to challenge myself by trying to keep it in a very highly energetic place, almost like I’m running a marathon,” she says of her upcoming show at Rhizome.

From Washington Post • Nov. 2, 2021

Rhizome swollen into a tuber; the branches bearing minute bladders; of natural size.

From Insectivorous Plants by Darwin, Charles

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.