crested dog's-tail

noun

1. a common wiry perennial grass, Cynosurus cristatus, of meadows and pasture

Word History and Origins

Origin of crested dog's-tail¹

C19: named from the fancied resemblance between its one-sided flower spike and a dog's feathery tail

Example Sentences

The Crested Dog’s-tail goes, in Sussex, by the name of Hendonbent; for what reason I know not.

From Project Gutenberg

If there were a field of Ray-grass, or of Crested Dog’s-tail, or any other good sort, and nothing else growing with it, the expense of cutting would be very little indeed, seeing that the scythe or reap-hook would do the business at a great rate.

From Project Gutenberg

The Vennel, a narrow lane in Edinburgh running out of the Grassmarket. vivers, victuals. wac, sad, unhappy. waling, choosing. warrandise, warranty. waur, worse. weird, destiny. whammle, to upset. whaup, curlew. whiles, sometimes. windlestrae, crested dog’s-tail grass. wund, wind. yin, one.

From Project Gutenberg

In places where there is no heavy dripping and where the ground is not absolutely dark, use the following: Kentucky Blue Grass, Wood Meadow Grass, Various-leaved Fescue, and Crested Dog's-tail.

From Project Gutenberg

I stare down at the soil, at the clumps of crested dog's-tail and stray blades of succulent darnel; I force my attention on a toadstool, whose soft and lowly head gleams sickly white in the moonbeams.

From Project Gutenberg