Crossword clues for tussock
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tussock \Tus"sock\, n. [From Tuz.] [Written also tussuck.]
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A tuft, as of grass, twigs, hair, or the like; especially, a dense tuft or bunch of grass or sedge.
Such laying of the hair in tussocks and tufts.
--Latimer. (Bot.) Same as Tussock grass, below.
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(Zo["o]l.) A caterpillar of any one of numerous species of bombycid moths. The body of these caterpillars is covered with hairs which form long tufts or brushes. Some species are very injurious to shade and fruit trees. Called also tussock caterpillar. See Orgyia. Tussock grass. (Bot.)
A tall, strong grass of the genus Dactylis ( Dactylis c[ae]spitosa), valuable for fodder, introduced into Scotland from the Falkland Islands.
A tufted grass ( Aira c[ae]spitosa).
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Any kind of sedge ( Carex) which forms dense tufts in a wet meadow or boggy place.
Tussock moth (Zo["o]l.), the imago of any tussock caterpillar. They belong to Orgyia, Halecidota, and allied genera.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1540s, "tuft of hair," of uncertain origin; perhaps a diminutive of earlier tusk (1520s) with the same meaning (and also of obscure origin). Meaning "tuft of grass" is first recorded c.1600.
Wiktionary
n. A tuft or clump of green grass or similar verdure, forming a small hillock.
WordNet
n. a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass [syn: tuft]
Wikipedia
Tussock most often refers to a small hillock of grassy, or grass-like plant growth, but may also refer to Plants and ecology, Insects.
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are found as native plants in natural ecosystems, as forage in pastures, and as ornamental grasses in gardens. Tussock and bunch grasses, in the Poaceae family, are grasses that usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants usually, they live more than one season.
Many species have long roots that may reach or more into the soil, which can aid slope stabilization, erosion control, and soil porosity for precipitation absorption. Also, their roots can reach moisture more deeply than other grasses and annual plants during seasonal or climatic droughts. The plants provide habitat and food for insects (including Lepidoptera), birds, small animals and larger herbivores, and support beneficial soil mycorrhiza. The leaves supply material, such as for basket weaving, for indigenous peoples and contemporary artists.
Tussock and bunch grasses occur in almost any habitat where other grasses are found, including: grasslands, savannas and prairies, wetlands and estuaries, riparian zones, shrublands and scrublands, woodlands and forests, montane and alpine zones, tundra and dunes, and deserts.
Usage examples of "tussock".
Each morning Sentilena brought a fresh dillyful of live crabs, and always emptied it at the kitchen door, so that we had an exciting chase after the crabs, some of which got away altogether, and came to a lingering end among the grass tussocks.
Adica knew the secret trail of firm tussocks that led through the marsh to the sacred island As the oldest uncrippled man in the village, Pur the stone knapper was given the honor of carrying in the offerings in her wake.
Alleyn, stretched luxuriously on a widely-spread tussock, looked across Lake Pukaki to where Aeo-rangi, the cloud-piercer, shone immaculate against the darkening sky.
Instantly the human snake who was stalking him glided on ten yards and got behind one of the tussocks of the thistle-like plant, reaching it as the Elmoran turned again.
A network of streams punctuated the thick vegetation, low-lying willow and prickly dewberry amid tussocks of woundwort and grassy sedge.
He had a nasty moment or two as the machine bumped over the snow-covered tussocks and molehills with which the pasture was plentifully besprinkled, but kicking on right rudder just before the Camel ran to a standstill he managed to swerve so that it stopped not far from the low hedge which divided the field from the paddock.
He climbed again the steep mountain-side and on top he was amongst many boulders, and the tussocked grasses and the burrawangs were such as he had never seen before.
They were positioned at the Medellin Hill, he knew that, so he ran by the stream, tripping over tussocks of grass, splashing through patches of marsh, keeping the silvered Portina as his guide to the Medellin.
It lay on its side on the slope of a tussock of grass, its hind legs drawn under it, its forelegs raised like the hands of a praying child.
The beat of rotors behind him became louder: he stumbled on, careless of stones and tussocks, waiting for the shadow of the helicopter, the waving of grass as it bent before the downdraught.
The cow finally lowered her head to drink after the calf, then walked back, dropping its muzzle to the tussocks again.
Around him, the wormwood and sedge tussocks looked ratty, hugging the ground.
He strode ahead of them, eventually leaving the road and going across a bog, the ground rough and oozy with tussocks of sharp grass.
But after two more deep runnels had been passed, and a mere thick with water-lilies crossed by a chain of hard tussocks like stepping-stones, the guide seemed to consider the danger gone.
About the third time she had to get down to free the load from hindering obstructions -- grass tussocks, rocks, brush -- she was no longer feeling so pleased.