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broad-leaved dock

broad-leaved dock

8.5
A common weed with large rounded leaves that comes from Europe
  • noun
translation icon : acederas de hojas anchas
  • The broad-leaved dock is easily identified by its large, rounded leaves.

Examples

  • Gardeners often struggle to remove broad-leaved dock from their vegetable patches.

  • Many gardeners consider broad-leaved docks a nuisance.

  • The broad-leaved dock was originally native to Europe but is now widespread in North America.

  • The broad-leaved dock is often found in disturbed soils.

  • Gardeners often struggle to remove broad-leaved dock from their vegetable patches.

  • The broad-leaved dock is easily identified by its large, rounded leaves.

  • Many gardeners consider broad-leaved dock a nuisance in their gardens.

Synonyms

dock
vsbroad-leaved dock
1 8.6

A coarse wild plant with long roots whose young leaves can be eaten

is a single species with broad rounded leaves and bitter root
Rumex obtusifolius
vsbroad-leaved dock
  • Specialized
9.9

A common weed with large blunt leaves and a bitter root

is the common name for that same European plant
bitter dock
vsbroad-leaved dock
  • UK
9.4

A plant with broad, rounded leaves and a bitter root that often grows as a weed

focuses on its broad rounded leaves instead
yellow dock
vsbroad-leaved dock
8.1

A plant that lives for many years with broad rounded leaves, a bitter root, often growing as a weed

emphasizes leaf shape rather than lifespan or other features

Surface Forms

Morphology

broad-leaved + dock

The noun phrase literally combines the adjective 'broad-leaved' (broad + leaved) with 'dock' (a Rumex plant), so the meaning 'a dock plant with broad leaves' is directly derivable from the parts. This adjective+noun compounding is a standard, cross-linguistic descriptive pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Broad-leaved dock gets its name from what it looks like: it has large, wide leaves — broad-leaved — and it is one of the plants called dock, so the name simply points to a common wild 'weed' you can easily spot.