bulrush

A bulrush is a very tall plant that grows in wetlands. Another name for a bulrush is a cattail.

If you hike near a marsh, you may see bulrushes poking up above the other grasses growing there. A bulrush tends to have a long, rounded seed head at its very top, and wide, strong leaves that can be used for weaving. The noun bulrush combines rush, "plant growing in marshy ground," with bul or bull, most likely used in the sense of "very large or coarse," as in the word bullfrog.

Definitions of bulrush
  1. noun
    tall marsh plant with cylindrical seed heads that explode when mature shedding large quantities of down; its long flat leaves are used for making mats and chair seats; of North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa
    synonyms: Typha latifolia, bullrush, cat's-tail, nailrod, reed mace, reedmace
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    type of:
    cattail
    tall erect herbs with sword-shaped leaves; cosmopolitan in fresh and salt marshes
  2. noun
    tall rush with soft erect or arching stems found in Eurasia, Australia, New Zealand, and common in North America
    synonyms: Juncus effusus, bullrush, common rush, soft rush
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    type of:
    rush
    grasslike plants growing in wet places and having cylindrical often hollow stems
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