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Glite Dictionary
spider brake

spider brake

9.9
A fern with delicate divided leaves often grown in shady gardens
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : helecho araña
  • Gardeners often choose spider brake for its elegant, feathery foliage.

Examples

  • The spider brake is easy to grow in shaded areas with moist soil.

  • The greenhouse has a variety of ferns, including the beautiful spider brake.

  • The spider brake thrives in humid environments.

  • I saw a beautiful spider brake in the garden.

  • Gardeners often choose spider brake for its elegant, feathery foliage.

  • The spider brake is easy to grow in shaded areas with moist soil.

  • The greenhouse has a variety of ferns, including the beautiful spider brake.

Synonyms

Pteris multifida
vsspider brake
  • Specialized
9.9

A fern from Asia often grown in gardens and sometimes found growing wild in North America

uses a common name and highlights delicate divided fronds

Surface Forms

spider brake singular
spider brakes plural

Morphology

spider + brake

The compound is compositional: 'brake' (a patch or growth of ferns) plus 'spider' suggests a fern associated with spider-like appearance or name, so a learner who knows the constituent senses can infer it denotes a kind of fern. However, 'brake' in the sense ‘patch of ferns’ is relatively rare/archaic and the exact botanical identity (Pteris multifida) is not predictable from the words alone, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Spider brake comes from a simple picture: the fern's thin, divided leaves look like many spider 'legs' and the old word brake meant 'fern'. That's why spider brake refers to this delicate fern from Asia.