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scale leaf

American  

noun

  1. a scalelike leaf, as a bud scale or certain bracts.

scale leaf British  

noun

  1. a modified leaf, often small and membranous, protecting buds, etc

  2. any of the leaves of some conifers, such as cypresses, that are small and tightly pressed to the stem

"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

Etymology

Origin of scale leaf

First recorded in 1880–85

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.