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Glite Dictionary
🌱 A hooked seed 🌸 A wetland plant
tearthumb

tearthumb

9.8
A plant that grows in marshes with small pink flowers and a prickly stem
  • noun
  • /ˈtɪrˌθʌm/
  • US
translation icon : planta de tearthumb
  • As we walked through the marsh, we carefully avoided the tearthumb that could snag our clothes with its sharp spines.

Examples

  • The wetland was filled with tearthumb, its prickly stems and small pink flowers giving it a unique appearance.

  • Two kinds of tearthumbs sprawl over low vegetation.

    Academic text (1998)

  • In the summer, the tearthumb blooms beautifully, attracting many insects to its delicate pink flowers.

Surface Forms

tearthumb singular
tearthumbs plural

Morphology

tearthumb = tear + thumb (transparent) = tear + thumb

Meaning is directly analyzable as something that tears or catches the thumb (a plant whose spines rip or hook the thumb).

Etymology

The word tearthumb is a simple English compound made from tear ('to rip') and thumb, named because the plant's sharp, hooked stems can scratch or tear your thumb when you touch them. So the name helps you remember this prickly marsh plant with small pink flowers.