tussock
tussock Lexical Profile
tussock Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A small, dense clump or tuft of grass, sedge, or similar vegetation that grows slightly raised above the surrounding ground, especially in marshes, bogs, or moorland.
"The hikers carefully stepped from one dry tussock to another as they crossed the waterlogged peat bog."
New Zealand Any of various coarse, clump-forming grasses of the family Poaceae (especially genera such as Chionochloa, Poa, and Festuca) that dominate temperate grasslands in New Zealand and Australia.
"Golden tussock covered the rolling hills of the South Island high country as far as the eye could see."
A dense tuft of hair, feathers, or bristles, especially one growing on the body of certain caterpillars.
"The caterpillar of the vapourer moth is easily recognized by the four brush-like tussocks of yellow hairs along its back."
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the mid-16th century, probably formed with the diminutive suffix -ock from dialectal English tusse ('a tuft of grass'), which may be related to Old English tusc ('tusk') or Scandinavian roots denoting a tangled mass.