means grass
- noun
- Specialized
:
hierba de Johnson
- Farmers in the southern United States struggle to manage the spread of means grass.
Examples
-
The farmer struggled with means grass taking over his fields.
-
Some livestock feed includes means grass because of its high nutritional value.
-
Means grass can rapidly overtake agricultural fields if not controlled.
-
Many livestock prefer to eat means grass over other plants.
-
Means grass can rapidly overtake agricultural fields if not controlled.
-
Farmers in the southern United States struggle to manage the spread of means grass.
-
Some livestock feed includes means grass because of its high nutritional value.
Synonyms
A tall grass that grows back each year, used to feed animals and often a harmful weed
A tall grass that spreads quickly and often grows as a harmful weed sometimes used for animal feed
A tall grass that spreads underground and is used for animal food but is a harmful weed
A tall grass that lives for many years, spreads by underground stems, and is grown for farm animal food
Surface Forms
Morphology
means + grass
The noun 'grass' makes it clear this refers to a type of grass, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would infer the general category (a grass species). However, 'means' does not contribute a predictable descriptive meaning here (it appears to be an eponym or specialized name), so the specific sense and properties of the plant are not derivable from the parts alone.
Etymology
The plant name means grass may come from a farmer or plant collector called 'Means' who first noticed and named the plant. Because people used that name for this tall, fast-spreading plant, means grass now refers to the grass that can overtake fields.
