toe toe
- noun
- New Zealand
:
toe toe
- In spring, the toe toe produces beautiful, feathery plumes.
Examples
-
The wind rustled through the toe toe along the riverbank.
-
They used dried toe toe leaves to weave traditional baskets.
-
The toe toe is a unique plant found in New Zealand.
-
Many gardeners love the beauty of toe toes in their gardens.
-
In spring, the toe toe produces beautiful, feathery plumes.
-
The wind rustled through the toe toe along the riverbank.
-
They used dried toe toe leaves to weave traditional baskets.
Synonyms
A tall grass with feathery flower heads from New Zealand used for decoration and for making roofs
A tall grass from New Zealand with feathery flower heads
A tall grass from New Zealand grown for its feathery flower heads
A tall grass from New Zealand with soft feathery flower heads
How Tall
Surface Forms
Morphology
toe + toe
This is a reduplicated plant name (Māori toetoe) whose meaning as 'a tall grass' cannot be derived from the English word 'toe' (a body part). The constituents give no semantic cue to a plant and the item functions as a lexicalized borrowing/proper name, so a B1 learner knowing 'toe' would not infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Toe toe comes from the Māori word 'toetoe' for a tall grass with long, feathery plumes. One popular idea is that the repeated sound copies the grass's soft, waving plumes, so toe toe now means that plumelike grass from New Zealand.