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Glite Dictionary
cockleburr

cockleburr

9.9
A coarse weed with spiny seed heads that stick to fur or clothes
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑkəlˌbɜr/
  • US
translation icon : burr
  • Farmers often struggle to control cockleburrs, as their spiny burrs cling to animals and spread quickly.

Examples

  • Maybe pull the cockleburrs from his yard and plant some grass.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The children complained about the cockleburrs getting stuck in their clothes while they played in the field.

  • We were expected to grow used to it, I suppose, as Scotch endurers, as cockleburr American highlanders.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • When hiking, I had to check my dog for cockleburrs that might have attached to his fur.

Synonyms

cocklebur
vscockleburr
  • US
1 9.6

A plant with prickly seed heads that stick to fur and clothing

is concerned only with the plant's coarse burrs and their attaching habit
cockle-burr
vscockleburr
  • US
9.7

A prickly plant with small spiny balls that stick to clothes or animal fur

is the identical name written without a hyphen in modern usage
cockle-bur
vscockleburr
  • US
9.9

A coarse weed with spiny seeds that stick to animals or clothing

is the unhyphenated name focusing on spiny burrs rather than fruit wording

Surface Forms

cockleburr singular
cockleburrs plural

Morphology

cockleburr = cockle + burr (semi-transparent) = cockle + burr

The compound clearly refers to a kind of 'burr', but the element 'cockle' is obscure to many learners and does not transparently convey the specific plant identity.

Etymology

Cockleburr combines cockle, an old word for a small, hard thing, and burr, 'a rough seed that sticks to fur or clothes'. So the name paints a clear picture of the plant: little spiny seed heads that cling to animals and clothing.