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Glite Dictionary
huntsman's cups

huntsman's cups

9.9
A plant that lives many years in bogs with red flowers and cup-shaped leaves that catch insects
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : plantas jarro del cazador
  • The unique pitcher leaves of the huntsman's cups help the plant capture and digest insects.

Examples

  • Botanists discovered a colony of huntsman's cups thriving in the wet peatland of western Ireland.

  • The bog was filled with unusual plants, including several huntsman's cups near the water's edge.

  • Look at that huntsman's cup!

  • What a stunning huntsman's cup!

  • Botanists discovered a colony of huntsman's cups thriving in the wet peatland of western Ireland.

  • The bog was filled with unusual plants, including several huntsman's cups near the water's edge.

  • The unique pitcher leaves of the huntsman's cups help the plant capture and digest insects.

Synonyms

huntsman's cup
vshuntsman's cups
  • US
9.9

A bog plant with dark red, cup-shaped leaves that trap insects

is the plural form used to refer to it collectively
Sarracenia purpurea
vshuntsman's cups
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant that eats insects with tube-shaped purple leaves that trap them

is the common name focusing on general appearance rather than taxonomic label
common pitcher plant
vshuntsman's cups
  • Specialized
7.7

A plant that lives in wet ground and has tube-shaped leaves that trap insects

describes the same bog plant but highlights broader winged pitcher leaves

Surface Forms

huntsman's cup singular
huntsman's cups plural

Morphology

huntsman's + cup

Although a learner can parse 'huntsman's' as 'belonging to a huntsman' and 'cup' as a hollow or cup-shaped object, the phrase is actually a vernacular species name for a specific bog plant and that botanical meaning is not predictable from the parts. Common names for plants are often arbitrary or eponymous and language-specific, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not reliably infer this botanical sense.

Etymology

Huntsman's cups may come from the way the plant's pitcher leaves form small, cup-like shapes that trap insects and help the plant feed. So huntsman suggests a 'hunter' and cups points to the cup-shaped leaves, which explains the name.