Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various perennial herbs of the genus Typha, widespread in marshy places and having long straplike leaves and a dense cylindrical cluster of minute flowers and fruits. Also called reed mace.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The common name of the tall reed-like aquatic plant Typha latifolia: so called from its long cylindrical furry spikes: often popularly called bulrush and cat-o'-nine-tails. Also cat's-tail.
- n. Same as cat's-tail grass (which see, under cat's-tail).
- n. Same as catkin.
- n. Nautical, that end of a cat-head which is fastened to the ship's frame.
- n. In cotton manufacturing, any corded, stringy tuft of cotton, due to faulty setting of a machine.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of several perennial herbs, of the genus Typha, that have long flat leaves, and grow in marshy places
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A tall erect rush or flag (Typha latifolia) growing widely in fresh and salt marshes, with long, flat, sword-shaped leaves, having clusters of small brown flowers in a dense cylindrical spike at the top of the stem; -- called also
bulrush andreed mace . The leaves are frequently used for seating chairs, making mats, etc. See catkin.
WordNet 3.0
- n. tall erect herbs with sword-shaped leaves; cosmopolitan in fresh and salt marshes
Examples
“There's a really lovely pink kind of cattail-ish print, as well, that would be just as nice for a grown-up girl or retro boy as it is for an infant.”
“Vegetables were also dried-stems, buds, and particularly starchy roots, such as cattail, thistle, licorish fern, and various lily corms.”
“In her hand was a brown "cattail," perfectly full and round.”
“What he is trying to say, no no no, your green head must be shimmering in your eyes, that isn't a dude in the brush just a mishaped cattail bush, the eating is great and the ladies are easy too much action for me.”
“They'd travel from one end of the pond to the other as a team, one of them separating itself from the others to investigate this cattail or that leaf while the others waited patiently, the three then resuming their peregrinations.”
“I thought that maybe the sole surviving carp had been tugging at the baby cattail shoots, as I've seen them do previous springs.”
“The way that works for me is finding where the deer want to go when pushed (like a cattail swamp).”
“I'm starting to realize the best chance of taking a big buck in my area is hunting the marsh and cattail swamps as you mention.”
“I wouldn't hesitate to push in to the unknown of the cattail marsh, discovering where the high dry spots are and searching out bucks.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cattail’.
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Love Across Kingdoms
Appendix of sorts to AIC, listing plants named with reference to animals and vice versa.
duck potato, hog plum, sorrel mare, horse aloe, horse chestnut, banana slug, tiger lily, buffalo grass, tuna fruit, monkey puzzle, bull kelp, hawkweed and 133 more...
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Flora
Flowers and plants have some of the most beautiful names.
These are often the common names, as opposed to the scientific or botanical names.daffodil, gardenia, tulip, snapdragon, violet, orchid, bleeding heart, daisy, lily, lilac, narcissus, rose and 278 more...
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Flora
fenugreek, verbena, saxifrage, arbutus, calendula, nasturtium, lobelia, hellebore, rhododendron, philodendron, bellflower, heuchera and 449 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (C)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
cacophony, cad, cajole, calamity, camomile, camphor, candlemas, candy apple, canopy, canticle, caparison, caravan and 304 more...
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Compounds That Look Freakish
You know who you are, freakish compounds. Though very useful, some of these words just don't seem right together--or, their meanings are so far from what the two (or more) component words suggest t...
nightjar, bullfinch, grassquit, bananaquit, ovenbird, waxwing, stonechat, wheatear, bushtit, wrentit, starthroat, godwit and 158 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...
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mary, mary, quite contrary
jonquil, cypress, hydrangea, phlox, clematis, japonica, willow, columbine, petunia, lianas, hosta, magnolia and 47 more...
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beanie's Words
cattail, anon, saltate, parquet, bentonite, circumpolar, asterism, venal, three-line whip, sanguine, peregruzka, pshaw and 1 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cattail.
reesetee Interesting boss you have there, beanie! Oct 4, 2007
super-beanie My boss told me today that you can light cattails and use them as "punks" to light fireworks, fires, etc... Better get the halon extinguisher ready Oct 4, 2007