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foxtail

 - 3 dictionary results

fox⋅tail

[foks-teyl]
–noun
1. the tail of a fox.
2. any of various grasses having soft, brushlike spikes of flowers.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME; see fox, tail 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fox·tail   (fŏks'tāl')   
n.  Any of several grasses of the genus Alopecurus, having dense, silky or bristly flowering spikes.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

foxtail

any of the weedy grasses in the genera Alopecurus and Setaria of the family Poaceae. There are about 25 species of Alopecurus, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone. Most species are perennial weeds, with dense, cylindrical, often brushlike, flower clusters that resemble foxes' tails. Meadow foxtail (A. pratensis), which is native to Eurasia, is used as a forage grass in northern North America; it stands 30 to 80 centimetres (about 12 to 30 inches) high and has a light-green flower cluster 7 cm long.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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