sow thistle
- noun
- /saʊ ˈθɪsəl/
:
cardo de los sembrados
- The sow thistle grows wild in my garden.
Examples
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The field was overrun with sow thistle after the heavy rains.
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Wild rabbits were nibbling on the leaves of the sow thistle near the hedgerow.
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Gardeners often remove sow thistle to keep their vegetable beds clear of weeds.
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Many farmers consider sow thistles to be pests.
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In the garden, the sow thistle grew wild among the tomatoes, its yellow flowers attracting many bees.
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Farmers often struggle to manage sow thistle because it can quickly take over cultivated areas.
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The landscape was dotted with sow thistle, its coarse leaves and bright yellow blooms a common sight in the fields.
Synonyms
15
5.6
A wild plant with prickly leaves and purple flowers
A group of wild plants with yellow flowers often thought of as weeds
A common weed with soft spiny leaves and yellow flowers that people sometimes eat
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent 'thistle' makes it clear to a B1 learner that this is a kind of plant, so the general category is predictable. However, 'sow' does not transparently convey the specific species or the plant's distinctive features (and could be misread as the verb 'to sow' or the animal 'sow'), so the exact meaning is not fully derivable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Sow thistle comes from a simple farm image: sows, or female 'pigs', often ate this prickly plant, so people put sow, meaning 'pig', together with thistle, meaning a prickly plant. That's why the name refers to a common weedy plant with yellow flowers.