poison pea
- noun
- Australian
:
guisante venenoso
- Researchers studied the toxins produced by the poison pea to understand their effects on grazing animals.
Examples
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The bright flowers of the poison pea make it easy to identify, despite its deadly reputation among livestock.
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Cattle ranchers must keep their herds away from poison pea growing near the riverbanks.
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The poison pea plant is harmful to livestock.
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Farmers should be cautious of poison peas in their fields.
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Cattle ranchers must keep their herds away from poison pea growing near the riverbanks.
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Researchers studied the toxins produced by the poison pea to understand their effects on grazing animals.
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The bright flowers of the poison pea make it easy to identify, despite its deadly reputation among livestock.
Synonyms
A group of Australian evergreen shrubs that are poisonous to farm animals
A plant from Australia with leaves and other parts that can make farm animals sick
How Toxic
- Australian
2
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'poison pea' is compositionally interpretable as 'a pea (plant) that is poisonous', so a B1 learner who knows 'poison' and 'pea' will readily infer it denotes a plant harmful if ingested. It follows a common English naming pattern for harmful plants (e.g., 'poison ivy', 'poison oak') and this compositional logic is cross-linguistically familiar, making the meaning transparent.
Etymology
Poison pea comes from what farmers saw: a pea-like plant whose pods and leaves make animals sick. The words poison and pea create a clear image, so the name means 'a pea-like plant poisonous to farm animals'.