creeping crowfoot
- noun
- UK
:
ranúnculo rastrero
- You can identify creeping crowfoot by its shiny leaves and yellow flowers.
Examples
-
The dense growth of creeping crowfoot quickly covered the bank of the pond.
-
The creeping crowfoot is often found in damp areas.
-
Gardeners sometimes struggle to control the spread of creeping crowfoot in moist soils.
-
Look at that creeping crowfoot!
-
Gardeners sometimes struggle to control the spread of creeping crowfoot in moist soils.
-
The dense growth of creeping crowfoot quickly covered the bank of the pond.
-
You can identify creeping crowfoot by its shiny leaves and yellow flowers.
Synonyms
A low plant with long stems that spread along the ground and small bright yellow flowers in damp places
A low plant with bright yellow flowers that spreads along the ground in wet grass
How Spreading
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a regular modifier + noun combination: 'creeping' (spreading/with stems that creep) describes the growth habit of 'crowfoot' (a type of plant), so the meaning 'a crowfoot that creeps/spreads' is directly derivable from the parts. This descriptive compounding follows normal English patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Creeping crowfoot gets its name from two clear images: the word creeping shows it sends long stems that crawl along the ground, and crowfoot refers to the leaf shape that looks like a crow's foot, so the name tells you it is a low, spreading herb often in the 'buttercup family'.