pin clover
- noun
- US
- The rancher planted pin clover as a nutritious forage for his livestock.
Examples
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The slender fruits of pin clover stick upright, giving the plant its distinctive appearance.
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Farmers in Arizona grow pin clover to improve soil quality.
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Pin clover thrives in the arid regions of the southwestern United States.
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The pin clover is often used as forage for livestock.
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The rancher planted pin clover as a nutritious forage for his livestock.
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Farmers in Arizona grow pin clover to improve soil quality.
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Pin clover is often used as forage for livestock.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A low plant with reddish stems and leaves like a fern often found in fields and eaten by animals
A small wild plant with thin red stems and small purple flowers that gives food to animals in spring
A small European weed with reddish stems, fernlike leaves, and pink-purple flowers often eaten by farm animals
A small plant often found as a weed with red stems, feathery leaves, and pink-purple flowers
A weed with reddish stems and small purple flowers used as food for farm animals
A plant with red creeping stems, fernlike leaves, and small reddish lavender flowers eaten by cattle
A plant from Europe with red stems and lavender flowers grown for animal food
A small wild plant with reddish fernlike leaves and tiny purple flowers that animals eat
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun compound where 'clover' is the head and 'pin' functions as a modifier, so a learner who knows both words will readily infer it denotes a type/variety of clover. While the precise botanical details (reddish stems, flower color) are not predictable from the parts, the basic meaning 'a kind of clover/plant' is transparently compositional.
Etymology
Pin clover gets its name from the plant's small, upright seed pods that stick up like a pin and from its leaves that look like clover. That's why the name means this common 'weed' often grown for 'forage'.