BEGGAR'S LICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does beggar's lice mean? 

• BEGGAR'S LICE (noun)
  The noun BEGGAR'S LICE has 2 senses:

1. Eurasian and North American plants having small prickly nutlets that stick to clothing

2. any of various tropical and subtropical plants having trifoliate leaves and rough sticky pod sections or loments

  Familiarity information: BEGGAR'S LICE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEGGAR'S LICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Eurasian and North American plants having small prickly nutlets that stick to clothing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

beggar's lice; beggar lice

Hypernyms ("beggar's lice" is a kind of...):

stickweed (any of several herbaceous plants having seeds that cling to clothing)

Holonyms ("beggar's lice" is a member of...):

genus Hackelia; genus Lappula; Hackelia; Lappula (stickweed; beggar's lice)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various tropical and subtropical plants having trifoliate leaves and rough sticky pod sections or loments

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

beggar's lice; beggar lice; tick trefoil

Hypernyms ("beggar's lice" is a kind of...):

subshrub; suffrutex (low-growing woody shrub or perennial with woody base)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beggar's lice"):

beggarweed; Desmodium purpureum; Desmodium tortuosum (West Indian forage plant cultivated in southern United States as forage and to improve soil)

Holonyms ("beggar's lice" is a member of...):

Desmodium; genus Desmodium (beggarweed; tick trefoil)