Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various grasses of the genus Alopecurus, having dense, silky or bristly flowering spikes.
- noun Any of several similar grasses, especially of the genera Hordeum and Setaria.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The tail of a fox. It was anciently one of the badges of a fool. [Properly fox-tail.]
- noun 2. One of various species of grass with soft brush-like spikes of flowers, especially of the genus Alopecurus, and also of the genera Setaria and (in Jamaica) Andropogon. The meadow-foxtail, is Alopecurus pratensis; the slender foxtail
- noun A club-moss, Lycopodium clavatum. [Prov. Eng.]
- noun In metal., the cinder, of a more or less cylindrical from and hollow in the center, obtained in the last stage of the charcoal-finery process.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The tail or brush of a fox.
- noun (Bot.) The name of several kinds of grass having a soft dense head of flowers, mostly the species of Alopecurus and Setaria.
- noun (Metal.) The last cinders obtained in the fining process.
- noun a dovetail saw.
- noun See Fox wedge, under
Fox .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The tail of a fox.
- noun Any of various grasses having bushy seed
spikelets that resemble the tail of a fox; particularly members of the genera Alopecurus and Setaria. - noun Any bushy seed
spikelet .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun grasses of the genera Alopecurus and Setaria having dense silky or bristly brushlike flowering spikes
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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- Grab a foxtail from the side of the pond before you leave.
Archive 2008-01-01 2008
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On the Hot Creek, White Pine, and Golden Gate ranges we find a still hardier and more picturesque species, called the foxtail pine, from its long dense leaf-tassels.
Steep Trails John Muir 1876
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The researchers also studied temperatures by looking at high-elevation trees, called foxtail pines, near Giant Forest.
Home By Mark Grossi / The Fresno Bee 2010
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There are many wonderful selections, such as foxtail lilies, daffodils, peonies, however, be sure if you make a selection, note whether or not it will grow in Zone 8, irises, amaryllis, and many more.
thetowntalk.com - 2010
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What we won't see until next year, and for the next five-seven years, is the result of an abundance of annual weeds, such as foxtail, mustard and ragweed.
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Most of the proofs are based on biological or historical evidence - but I did find one etymological aspect: while many claim that the name "shibolet shual" comes the spike, shibolet, of plant looking like the tail of a fox, shual, (and we find the phrase "foxtail" with a similar meaning in English), Feliks believes that the name comes from the fact that foxes like eating the softer two-rowed barley more than other grains, in the same way that invei shual ענבי
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Sara 7:52 pm: And axe and the foxtail are overused costume bits, often inappropriately used
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I saw the words: tropes, foxtail and battle axe and wonder what they have to do with steampunk.
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Rhynchostylis retusa, foxtail orchid, by Buddhini Samarasinghe — Plant is native to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India.
Photography Contest: Finalists, Threatened or Endangered - The Panda's Thumb 2010
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Fountain grass forms foxtail flowers in the fall, and these plumes wave over the foliage for three months or more.
frindley commented on the word foxtail
Throw it, catch it – but only by the tail. Foxtail is about the only ball game I've ever truly enjoyed.
November 30, 2008