spurry

American  

[spur-ee, spuhr-ee] / ˈspɜr i, ˈspʌr i /

noun

spurries plural

1. any of several plants belonging to the genus Spergula, of the pink family, especially S. arvensis, having white flowers and numerous linear leaves.

2. any of various allied or similar plants.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• spurries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of spurry

First recorded in 1570–80; spur ¹ + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Amongst the injurious substances found in linseed and linseed-cake I may mention the seeds of the purging-flax, darnel, spurry, corn-cockle, curcus-beans, and castor-oil beans.

From The Stock-Feeder's Manual the chemistry of food in relation to the breeding and feeding of live stock by Cameron, Charles Alexander, Sir

The plants most commonly employed in this country are spurry, white mustard, and turnips.

From Elements of Agricultural Chemistry by Anderson, Thomas

Everywhere they grew fodder, and spurry and horse-beans.

From Pictures of German Life in the XVth XVIth and XVIIth Centuries, Vol. II. by Freytag, Gustav

Mowbray advises that the grass run should be sown "with common trefoil or wild clover, with a mixture of burnet, spurry, or storgrass," which last two kinds "are particularly salubrious to poultry."

From Poultry A Practical Guide to the Choice, Breeding, Rearing, and Management of all Descriptions of Fowls, Turkeys, Guinea-fowls, Ducks, and Geese, for Profit and Exhibition. by Piper, Hugh

White mustard and spurry are employed in the same way as a preparation for winter wheat, and with the best results.

From Elements of Agricultural Chemistry by Anderson, Thomas