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Glite Dictionary
🌾 A grass 🌳 A thorny tree
cockspur

cockspur

9.9
A small tree with sharp thorns found in the West Indies
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : árbol cockspur
  • Many gardeners appreciate the cockspur for its unique appearance and seasonal interest.

Examples

  • In the garden, the cockspur adds a striking touch with its spiny branches and vibrant berries.

  • Her life was so bare that she lacked buttons, for he noted that the top of her dress was held with a long briar from a cockspur bush.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The cockspur tree's sharp thorns deter animals from eating its fruits.

Compounds

cockspur hawthorn
  • Specialized
9.9

A small tree from eastern North America with long straight thorns and white flowers

cockspur thorn
  • Specialized
9.9

A small tree or bush from eastern North America with long sharp thorns, white flowers, and red berries

Surface Forms

cockspur singular
cockspurs plural

Morphology

cockspur = cock + spur (semi-transparent) = cock + spur

Compound of two common nouns with a figurative reference to thorny projections; the parts are obvious but the botanical referent is specialized.

Etymology

Cockspur comes from the parts cock 'rooster' and spur 'spike', because the small tree has sharp, thorny branches that look like a rooster's spur, which is why people call it cockspur.