cat's-claw

American  

[kats-klaw] / ˈkætsˌklɔ /

noun

1. a spiny shrub or small tree, Pithecellobium unguis-cati, of Central America, having greenish-yellow flowers and reddish, spirally twisted pods.

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Etymology

Origin of cat's-claw

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

Now and then they would find a piece of his clothing and see places where he had run into the fox-tail cactus, cat's-claw and other thorny bushes.

From Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle The Father and Founder of the British Mission by Whitney, Orson F.

There's a man standing in that clump of cat's-claw ahead.

From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 1, May 1908 by Various

Besides these food plants of the desert, we have the cat's-claw, mesquite and cholla shrubs for fuel; the bear-grass and yuccas for camp-building.

From Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Great American Desert by Flower, Jessie Graham [pseud.]

Then she crept around the cat's-claw, where a man squatted, his eyes blazing with excitement.

From The Heart of the Desert Kut-Le of the Desert by Morrow, Honoré

Rhoda yawned, rose sleepily, looked under her blanket and shook her, head irritably, then dragged her blankets toward the neighboring cat's-claw.

From The Heart of the Desert Kut-Le of the Desert by Morrow, Honoré