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cactus

 - 4 dictionary results

cac·tus

   [kak-tuhs]
–noun,plural-ti  [-tahy] , -tus·es, -tus.
any of numerous succulent plants of the family Cactaceae, of warm, arid regions of the New World, having fleshy, leafless, usually spiny stems, and typically having solitary, showy flowers.
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Origin:
1600–10; < L < Gk káktos cardoon

—Related forms
cac·tus·like, cactoid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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World English Dictionary
cactus (ˈkæktəs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n , pl -tuses, -ti
1.  any spiny succulent plant of the family Cactaceae of the arid regions of America. Cactuses have swollen tough stems, leaves reduced to spines or scales, and often large brightly coloured flowers
2.  cactus dahlia a double-flowered variety of dahlia
 
[C17: from Latin: prickly plant, from Greek kaktos cardoon]
 
cactaceous
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

cactus
c.1600, from L. cactus "cardoon," from Gk. kaktos, name of a type of prickly plant of Sicily (the Spanish artichoke), perhaps of pre-Hellenic origin. Modern meaning is 18c., because Linnaeus gave the name to a group of plants he thought were related to this but are not.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

cactus (buttons) definition


  1. n.
    peyote cactus containing mescaline. (Drugs.) : Gert came back from vacation with a bag of cactus buttons.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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