triffid
Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. A fictional plant that is able to move around and kill people with a poisonous stinger.
‘Triffid’ was coined by science fiction writer John Wyndham in his novel, The Day of the Triffids. The word probably comes from ‘trifid,’ divided into three parts, says the Oxford English Dictionary, since ‘the plant was supported on ‘three bluntly-tapered projections extending from the lower part’ of the body.’
Examples
“Many of the plants have seeded and given way to a new regiment of sunflowers. Their huge yellow discs have risen triffid-like above everything else and they have all turned in a single direction.”
Mark Cocker, ‘Country Diary: Claxton, Norfolk,’ The Guardian, October 3, 2010
“Monstrous architecture is being allowed to spread across the Capital like ‘triffids’, according to one of the country’s leading design experts.”
‘City’s triffid invasion of bad designs,’ The Scotsman, May 6, 2002
“Stunned Sadie Yates has seen her Agave shoot up like 'a Triffid' after waiting patiently for years for it to burst into life.”
John Coles, ‘Sadie’s ‘Triffid’ Has Its Day,’ The Sun, July 15, 2010
