What is "scouring rush"

Dutch \Dutch\, a. [D. duitsch German; or G. deutsch, orig., popular, national, OD. dietsc, MHG. diutsch, tiutsch, OHG. diutisk, fr. diot, diota, a people, a nation; akin to AS. pe['o]d, OS. thiod, thioda, Goth. piuda; cf. Lith. tauta land, OIr. tuath people, Oscan touto. The English have applied the name especially to the Germanic people living nearest them, the Hollanders. Cf. Derrick, Teutonic.] Pertaining to Holland, or to its inhabitants.

Dutch auction. See under Auction.

Dutch cheese, a small, pound, hard cheese, made from skim milk.

Dutch clinker, a kind of brick made in Holland. It is yellowish, very hard, and long and narrow in shape.

Dutch clover (Bot.), common white clover ( Trifolium repens), the seed of which was largely imported into England from Holland.

Dutch concert, a so-called concert in which all the singers sing at the same time different songs. [Slang]

Dutch courage, the courage of partial intoxication. [Slang]
--Marryat.

Dutch door, a door divided into two parts, horizontally, so arranged that the lower part can be shut and fastened, while the upper part remains open.

Dutch foil, Dutch leaf, or Dutch gold, a kind of brass rich in copper, rolled or beaten into thin sheets, used in Holland to ornament toys and paper; -- called also Dutch mineral, Dutch metal, brass foil, and bronze leaf.

Dutch liquid (Chem.), a thin, colorless, volatile liquid, C2H4Cl2, of a sweetish taste and a pleasant ethereal odor, produced by the union of chlorine and ethylene or olefiant gas; -- called also Dutch oil. It is so called because discovered (in 1795) by an association of four Hollandish chemists. See Ethylene, and Olefiant.

Dutch oven, a tin screen for baking before an open fire or kitchen range; also, in the United States, a shallow iron kettle for baking, with a cover to hold burning coals.

Dutch pink, chalk, or whiting dyed yellow, and used in distemper, and for paper staining. etc.
--Weale.

Dutch rush (Bot.), a species of horsetail rush or Equisetum ( Equisetum hyemale) having a rough, siliceous surface, and used for scouring and polishing; -- called also scouring rush, and shave grass. See Equisetum.

Dutch tile, a glazed and painted ornamental tile, formerly much exported, and used in the jambs of chimneys and the like.

Note: Dutch was formerly used for German.

Germany is slandered to have sent none to this war [the Crusades] at this first voyage; and that other pilgrims, passing through that country, were mocked by the Dutch, and called fools for their pains.
--Fuller.

Equisetum \Eq`ui*se"tum\, n.; pl. Equiseta. [L., the horsetail, fr. equus horse + seta a thick,, stiff hair, bristle.] (Bot.) A genus of vascular, cryptogamic, herbaceous plants; -- also called horsetails.

Note: The Equiseta have hollow jointed stems and no true leaves. The cuticle often contains siliceous granules, so that one species ( E. hyemale) is used for scouring and polishing, under the name of Dutch rush or scouring rush.

n. Any of certain horsetails, especially rough horsetail ((taxlink Equisetum hyemale species noshow=1)), formerly used for scouring and polishing.

n. evergreen erect horsetail with rough-edged stems; formerly used for scouring utensils [syn: rough horsetail, Equisetum hyemale, Equisetum hyemale robustum, Equisetum robustum]