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sparrowgrass

[ spar-oh-gras, -grahs ]

noun

, Informal.


sparrowgrass

/ ˈspærəʊˌɡrɑːs /

noun

  1. a dialect or popular name for asparagus
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sparrowgrass1

First recorded in 1650–60; by folk etymology
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sparrowgrass1

C17: variant of asparagus , associated by folk etymology with sparrow and grass
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Example Sentences

I reached for the goblet and trailed my balloon sleeves through the sparrowgrass sauce.

“It is my fault,” Father said, cutting into a sparrowgrass spear.

A serving maid whisked away my uneaten sparrowgrass and replaced it with scallops and tomato aspic.

On Father’s plate and mine was sparrowgrass covered with a tarragon-mustard sauce.

We see him discovering samphire, the salty sea-asparagus, or “sparrowgrass,” of Norfolk mud flats—a contradictory plant dependent on sweeping tides, which gathers silt and sand in its stems and creates dry land on which it cannot grow.

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sparrowfartsparrow hawk