bulrush

[ bool-ruhsh ]

noun

1. (in Biblical use) the papyrus, Cyperus papyrus.
2. any of various rushes of the genera Scirpus and Typha.

bulrush

/ ˈbʊlˌrʌʃ /

noun

1. a grasslike cyperaceous marsh plant, Scirpus lacustris , used for making mats, chair seats, etc
2. a popular name for reed mace
3. a biblical word for papyrus

Word History and Origins

Origin of bulrush¹

1400–50; late Middle English bulrish papyrus, probably bull ¹ + rish rush ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of bulrush¹

C15 bulrish, bul- perhaps from bull ¹+ rish rush ², referring to the largeness of the plant; sense 2 derived from the famous painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912), Dutch-born English painter, of the finding of the infant Moses in the "bulrushes" — actually reed mace

Example Sentences

Families and friends fish together on the lake’s banks and its fishing piers, casting poles through the California bulrush.

From Los Angeles Times

At the water’s edge, MacLeish carefully scanned dense thickets of willows and bulrush, saying, “Black toads are good at hiding.”

From Los Angeles Times

The surrounding meadows of grass and bulrush grazed to their roots, “were once home to herds of antelope, and thousands of sage grouse,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

They include the little brown bat, the plains spotted skunk, the Illinois chorus frog, the golden-winged warbler, Blanding’s turtle, the Mammoth Springs crayfish, two freshwater mussels and a plant called Hall’s bulrush.

From Washington Post

They include the little brown bat, the plains spotted skunk, the Illinois chorus frog, the golden-winged warbler, Blanding’s turtle, the Mammoth Springs crayfish, two freshwater mussels and a plant called Hall’s bulrush.

From Seattle Times