strangler
Britishnoun
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a person or thing that strangles
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a plant, esp a fig in tropical rain forests, that starts as an epiphyte but sends roots to the ground and eventually forms a tree with many aerial roots, usually killing the host
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.
He spotted a strangler fig and described how it sprouted from a seed that found purchase in the high crotch of another species, slowly sent roots to the ground, and ultimately choked its host.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 23, 2024
Driving west from El Hormiguero toward the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the road wends through ceibas, strangler figs, and sapodillas, a tree prized since Maya times for its chicle gum.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 11, 2023
Often, Dr. Sanz said, interactions occurred after a band of chimps located an exciting meal, such as a fruiting strangler fig or kapok.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
She had a special animus for English ivy, that invasive strangler of native trees.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2016
They came to drier soil with strangler figs splitting the rocks.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
