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pin clover

pin clover

9.9
A spreading plant with reddish flowers grown for animal food
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : alfileria
  • The rancher planted pin clover as a nutritious forage for his livestock.

Examples

  • The slender fruits of pin clover stick upright, giving the plant its distinctive appearance.

  • Farmers in Arizona grow pin clover to improve soil quality.

  • Pin clover thrives in the arid regions of the southwestern United States.

  • The pin clover is often used as forage for livestock.

  • The rancher planted pin clover as a nutritious forage for his livestock.

  • Farmers in Arizona grow pin clover to improve soil quality.

  • Pin clover is often used as forage for livestock.

Synonyms

clocks
vspin clover
  • UK
1 9.9

A small wild plant with reddish fernlike leaves and tiny purple flowers that animals eat

emphasizes spreading reddish stems and deeper reddish-lavender flowers rather than just leaves
alfileria
vspin clover
  • US
9.9

A small wild plant with thin red stems and small purple flowers that gives food to animals in spring

has the same spreading stems but deeper reddish-lavender flowers rather than smaller blooms
Erodium cicutarium
vspin clover
  • Specialized
9.9

A small European weed with reddish stems, fernlike leaves, and pink-purple flowers often eaten by farm animals

is described with spreading stems and slightly deeper flower color instead of sprawling habit
redstem storksbill
vspin clover
  • US
9.9

A small plant often found as a weed with red stems, feathery leaves, and pink-purple flowers

shares the forage use but emphasizes spreading stems and deeper flower color
pin grass
vspin clover
  • US
9.8

A weed with reddish stems and small purple flowers used as food for farm animals

focuses more on spreading stems and deeper reddish-lavender flowers than upright fruits
alfilaria
vspin clover
  • US
9.9

A plant with red creeping stems, fernlike leaves, and small reddish lavender flowers eaten by cattle

is similar but described with spreading rather than creeping stem habit
filaria
vspin clover
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant from Europe with red stems and lavender flowers grown for animal food

adds the detail of spreading stems and deeper flower hue compared with this form
filaree
vspin clover
  • Specialized
9.9

A low plant with reddish stems and leaves like a fern often found in fields and eaten by animals

is like this but highlights spreading stems and deeper flower color instead of low growth

Surface Forms

pin clover singular
pin clovers plural

Morphology

pin + clover

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'.