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Glite Dictionary
mule fat

mule fat

9.9
A Californian shrub with thin leafy shoots that deer eat
  • noun
  • /mjuːl fæt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : mule fat
  • The local wildlife thrives on the nutritious leaves of the mule fat shrub.

Examples

  • During our hike, we noticed that mule fat was abundant along the riverbanks.

  • A very straight stick (they used mule fat, which is native to Southern California and was favored by Indians for friction fire starting),

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  • Mule fat grows in wet areas and provides essential food for mule fat.

Synonyms

Baccharis viminea
vsmule fat
  • Specialized
9.9

A California shrub with thin leafy stems that mule deer eat

has the same meaning but uses a different botanical name

Surface Forms

mule fat singular
mule fats plural

Morphology

mule + fat

The compound 'mule fat' names a specific shrub species and this meaning is not derivable from the constituents 'mule' (an animal) and 'fat' (commonly 'overweight' or, less commonly, 'fertile'). A B1 learner who knows those words would likely misinterpret the phrase (e.g. 'a fat mule' or 'fat for mules') and would not predict a plant name; the rare sense of 'fat' = 'fertile' is not sufficiently transparent, so the expression is idiomatic/lexicalized in English.

Etymology

Mule fat may come from how the shrub fed working animals: mule is the animal and fat means 'well fed', because mules ate its leafy shoots. So people began to call this California shrub mule fat, and that is why the name refers to this plant today.