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silkweed

American

[silk-weed] / ˈsɪlkˌwid /

noun

any milkweed, the pods of which contain a silky down.

silkweed British

/ ˈsɪlkˌwiːd /

noun

another name for milkweed

"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 silkweed

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85; silk + weed ¹

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.

They are jolly little fellows, and they will allow you to stay, and teach you to spin; for they spin all winter, and make lovely cloth for the elves out of silkweed and thistle-down.

From Lulu's Library, Volume II by Alcott, Louisa May

The silkweed, the skull-cap, catnip, boneset, the peppermint, wild ginger, wintergreen, and scores of other plants, all gladly offered their roots, their berries, or their leaves.

From The Magic Speech Flower or Little Luke and His Animal Friends by Hix, Melvin

Their lines were made of the tough, fibrous, silken bark of the variety of milkweed or silkweed, already mentioned.

From Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity Their History, Customs and Traditions by Clark, Galen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023