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spear grass

See more synonyms for spear grass on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any of various grasses, as a meadow grass or a bent grass, having lance-shaped leaves or floral spikes.
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Origin of spear grass

First recorded in 1540–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for spear grass

Historical Examples

  • If you get scratched up by spear-grass and thorns and then step into some swamp-pool it's all off.

    The Blind Lion of the Congo

    Elliott Whitney

  • The pupa state is spent, in an earthen chamber, amongst the roots of the spear-grass, and the moth emerges during the summer.

  • The larva feeds on the spear-grass (Aciphylla squarrosa), an abundant plant on the coast hills near Wellington.

  • During our stay the island was fired, in order to remove the "spear-grass," which is so destructive to cattle.

    Cruise of the 'Alert'

    R. W. Coppinger

  • It was the stalks, above the upper joint, of spear-grass and redtop grass growing so profusely in Weathersfield.

British Dictionary definitions for spear grass

spear grass

noun NZ
  1. another name for wild Spaniard
  2. any of various native Australian grasses, esp of the genera Stipa or Heteropogon, with sharp-pointed seeds
  3. any of various grasses with sharp stiff blades or seeds
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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