vetchling

[ vech-ling ]

noun
  1. any of several slender, climbing plants belonging to the genus Lathyrus, of the legume family, similar to the vetch but having a winged or angular stem, as L. palustris, of North America.

Origin of vetchling

1
First recorded in 1570–80; vetch + -ling1

Words Nearby vetchling

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vetchling in a sentence

  • On slender stalks the yellow vetchling blooms, reaching ambitiously as tall as the lowest of the brambles.

    Nature Near London | Richard Jefferies
  • The yellow vetchling had climbed up from the ditch and opened its flower, and there were young nuts on the hazel bough.

    Round About a Great Estate | Richard Jefferies
  • This tendril curls round the stem of plants that are stronger than the Meadow vetchling, and they support it.

British Dictionary definitions for vetchling

vetchling

/ (ˈvɛtʃlɪŋ) /


noun
  1. any of various leguminous tendril-climbing plants of the genus Lathyrus, esp L. pratensis (meadow vetchling), mainly of N temperate regions, having winged or angled stems and showy flowers: See also sweet pea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012