ambatch

[ am-bach ]

noun

1. an Egyptian tree, Aeschynomene elaphroxylon, of the legume family, having a light-colored, spongy wood.

ambatch

/ ˈæmˌbætʃ /

noun

1. a tree or shrub of the Nile Valley, Aeschynomene elaphroxylon, valued for its light-coloured pithlike wood

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambatch¹

1860–65; perhaps < a source akin to Amharic əmb ( w ) ac'o, name for Rumex alismafolius

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambatch¹

C19: probably from the Ethiopian name

Example Sentences

Its longest leg, called the White Nile, pours out of Lake Victoria through Uganda's Owen Falls Dam, drops swiftly to the Sudan, where it snarls itself in the tangled vegetation of the Sudd�50,000 sq. mi. of swamp, amidst whose 14-ft.-papyrus thickets and convoluted blue ambatch flowers the river loses half its water in evaporation and drainage.

From Time Magazine Archive

Upon both sides of the river the people now advanced, dragging the rope on the surface of the water until they reached the ambatch float that was swimming to and fro, according to the movements of the hippopotamus below.

From Project Gutenberg

The men on the opposite bank now dropped their line, and our men hauled in upon the ambatch float that was held fast between the ropes.

From Project Gutenberg

One glanced obliquely from the scales; the other stuck fairly in the tough hide, and the iron, detached from the bamboo, held fast, while the ambatch float, running on the surface of the water, marked the course of the reptile beneath.

From Project Gutenberg

The bull was in the greatest fury, and rose to the surface, snorting and blowing in his impotent rage; but as the ambatch float was exceedingly large, and this naturally accompanied his movements, he tried to escape from his imaginary persecutor, and dived constantly, only to find his pertinacious attendant close to him upon regaining the surface.

From Project Gutenberg