tarweed

[tahr-weed]

noun

1. any of several resinous or gummy, composite plants of the genus Grindelia, having solitary flower heads.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tarweed¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; tar ¹ + weed ¹

Example Sentences

The tarweed clung to my socks, and a happy little bee hovered by my elbow.

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Under the common designation of "tarweed," plants belonging to two different genera—Madia and Hemizonia—and comprising thirty or forty species, may be found.

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Lysander, tired of waiting, came striding through the tarweed, with his hoe on his shoulder.

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He looked down upon his clothes, stuccoed with tarweed burrs and wet mud.

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Grasshoppers whirred everywhere; squirrels whistled; occasional little dust-devils whirled up the now thoroughly dry river-bed and the atmosphere was redolent of the aroma of dust and tarweed.

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