TUSSOCK • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tussock

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noun

Tussock n. (Written also tussuck)

A tuft, as of grass, twigs, hair, or the like; especially, a dense tuft or bunch of grass or sedge. "Such laying of the hair in tussocks and tufts."

(Bot.) Same as Tussock grass, below.

(Zool.) A caterpillar of any one of numerous species of bombycid moths. The body of these caterpillars is covered with hairs which form long tufts or brushes. Some species are very injurious to shade and fruit trees. Called also tussock caterpillar. See Orgyia.

Tussock grass. (Bot.)

(a)

A tall, strong grass of the genus Dactylis (Dactylis caespitosa), valuable for fodder, introduced into Scotland from the Falkland Islands.

(b)

A tufted grass (Aira caespitosa).

(c)

Any kind of sedge (Carex) which forms dense tufts in a wet meadow or boggy place.

Tussock moth (Zool.), the imago of any tussock caterpillar. They belong to Orgyia, Halecidota, and allied genera.

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Etymology of 'Tussock'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tussock" Quotes from Famous Books

... so long—I ax Jesus one day carry me next day! Can't make up my bed. Like an old hog sleep on a tussick." (I always heard it 'Toad on a tussock'—and you?) ...

— Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 2 • Works Projects Administration

... but sound, of as wide a field as possible, but above all to teach him so to use his mind that to whatever corner of that field he may turn for his walk in life, he will be able to focus all his intellect upon it—to concentrate and bring to bear all his energies on whatever tussock or mole-hill it may be out of which he has to dig his fortune. When the youth steps out into life, it may be that his actual store of knowledge is superficial—a smattering of too many things—but superficiality is precisely the one quality which, in theory at least, his training has been ...

— The Twentieth Century American - Being a Comparative Study of the Peoples of the Two Great - Anglo-Saxon Nations • H. Perry Robinson

... must sing. Only music can quiet my nerves. I will sing a little threnody composed by myself, about the good old days of this world before the Flood." And as it spoke, the Platypus moved into an upright position amongst the tussock grass, and after a little cough opened its bill ...

— Dot and the Kangaroo • Ethel C. Pedley

Words linked to "Tussock" : clump, tussock bellflower, hexenbesen, tuft, witches' broom, coma, plumed tussock, staghead, clustering