field thistle
- noun
- /fiːld ˈθɪsəl/
- US
:
cardo de campo
- The field thistle blooms abundantly in the late summer, attracting butterflies and bees.
Examples
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We spotted a patch of field thistle near the edge of the meadow.
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Gardeners often remove field thistle to prevent it from spreading through open fields.
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Look at that beautiful field thistle!
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The field thistle blooms beautifully in summer.
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In the summer, the field thistle can be seen across vast open fields, with its vibrant purple flowers attracting various pollinators.
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The gardener explained that the field thistle can spread quickly, overtaking native plants in meadows if left unchecked.
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While hiking, we admired the striking field thistle standing tall among the grasses in the sunny meadow.
Synonyms
15
5.6
A wild plant with prickly leaves and purple flowers
A large prickly plant native to North America with purple-pink flower heads that bees and butterflies visit
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is a simple compositional compound: 'field' (a plot of land) modifies 'thistle' (a spiny plant), so the meaning is literally a thistle found in fields. This location+entity pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English noun-noun composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Field thistle comes from a simple picture: a thistle, a spiny wild plant, that grows in a field, an open area. That's why the name means a large, spiny thistle 'found in open fields and meadows'.