tussock

[ tuhs-uh k ]

/ ˈtʌs ək /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tussock ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a tuft or clump of growing grass or the like.

Nearby words

tussie-mussie, tussis, tussive, tussive fremitus, tussle, tussock, tussock caterpillar, tussock grass, tussock moth, tussocky, tussore

Origin of tussock

1540–50; apparently akin to Middle High German zūsach thicket, derivative of zūse lock (of hair), brushwood. See -ock

Related forms

tus·socked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tussock

This species occurs commonly on the tussock lands from Christchurch to Invercargill.
New Zealand Moths and Butterflies|G. V. Hudson
The shells of snow over these pockets were traps for our feet; but we scrambled down, and presently came to patches of tussock.
South!|Sir Ernest Shackleton
There was Mrs. Woodcock peeping at him from behind a tussock of grass.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children|Thornton W. Burgess
They build nests of tussock on rocks close to the water or maybe on the ground.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson

A yellow streak hurled itself though the air, as Puck, who had been investigating a tussock for lizards, awoke to the situation.
A Little Bush Maid|Mary Grant Bruce

British Dictionary definitions for tussock

tussock

/ (ˈtʌsək) /

noun

a dense tuft of vegetation, esp of grass

Australian and NZ

short for tussock grass
the tussock country where tussock grass grows

Derived Forms

tussocky, adjective

Word Origin for tussock

C16: perhaps related to tusk

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