three-cornered leek
- noun
- UK
:
ajo de tres esquinas
- She identified the plant by its triangular leaves and confirmed it was a three-cornered leek.
Examples
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The three-cornered leek often grows in shady woodlands in southern England.
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Gardeners warn that the three-cornered leek can quickly spread and become invasive.
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I found a patch of three-cornered leek in the garden.
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Have you ever tried cooking with three-cornered leeks?
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The three-cornered leek often grows in shady woodlands in southern England.
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She identified the plant by its triangular leaves and confirmed it was a three-cornered leek.
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I found a patch of three-cornered leek in the garden.
Synonyms
A European leek with triangular leaves that grows wild in Britain
A small wild onion with triangular leaves and white bell-shaped flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
three-cornered + leek
The phrase is fully compositional: 'three-cornered' denotes having three corners (i.e. triangular) and 'leek' is a vegetable, so the meaning 'a leek with triangular/three-cornered leaves' is directly derivable from the parts. This is a literal descriptive compound common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Three-cornered leek gets its name from the plant's look: its leaves have three sides, so three-cornered, and it is a wild leek similar to an onion. So the name means 'a wild leek with triangular leaves'.
