wait-a-bit

American  

[weyt-uh-bit] / ˈweɪt əˌbɪt /

noun

1. any of various plants bearing thorns or prickly appendages, as the grapple plant or the greenbrier.

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wait-a-bit British  

noun

1. any of various plants having sharp hooked thorns or similar appendages, esp the greenbrier and the grapple plant

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Etymology

Origin of wait-a-bit

1775–85; translation of Afrikaans wag-'n-bietjie < Dutch wacht een beetje

Example Sentences

He suspected from this that they were some of the Swahilis of the party, and suspicion became certainty when Bill discovered a tiny strip of white cotton on a spike of a wait-a-bit thorn-bush.

From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert

A sage-hen crouching low in sand and shadowed by wait-a-bit thorn twigs is pretty well hidden.

From The Red Mustang by Stoddard, William O.

The whole system teems with "wait-a-bit" thorns; and in such rare cases when difficulties do not exist, some jack-in-office is certain to arrive with the sole object and intention of inventing them.

From On the Heels of De Wet by James, Lionel

He might indeed scramble over at the expense of torn hands and clothing, though there was the danger of being held fast by the tenacious wait-a-bit thorns of which the obstacle was made.

From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert

Having proceeded about ten miles, the country became thickly covered with detached forest trees and groves of wait-a-bit thorns.

From Forest and Frontiers Or, Adventures Among the Indians by Gordon-Cumming, Roualeyn