hiccough nut
- noun
- South African
:
nuez de hipo
- Gardeners admire the hiccough nut for its vivid red flowers and ornamental vines.
Examples
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The botanical garden recently acquired a hiccough nut for its African plant collection.
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You can find a hiccough nut climbing along the fence in the old arboretum.
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The hiccough nut is a beautiful addition to any garden.
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I bought a hiccough nut plant for my balcony.
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Gardeners admire the hiccough nut for its vivid red flowers and ornamental vines.
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The botanical garden recently acquired a hiccough nut for its African plant collection.
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You can find a hiccough nut climbing along the fence in the old arboretum.
Synonyms
A climbing shrub with bright red flowers used for decoration
A climbing African shrub with red flowers often grown in gardens
A South African bulb plant with large flat leaves and bright red flower heads
Surface Forms
Morphology
hiccough + nut
This is a lexicalized botanical name whose meaning (an ornamental African shrub with red flowers) cannot be derived from the constituents: 'hiccough' (hiccup) has no relation to plants and 'nut' at best suggests a seed/fruit but not a shrub. Because the parts do not compositionally signal the plant sense, a B1 learner who knows the individual words would not be able to infer the MWE meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Hiccough nut may come from how the plant's seed pods sometimes pop with quick little sounds like a 'hiccup'. Because the seeds are round like a nut, people used that odd name for the bright, climbing shrub, and that picture helps explain the name today.
