cleavers
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Related to cleavers: Galium aparine
cleav·ers
(klē′vərz)pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
1. An annual, climbing bedstraw (Galium aparine) found throughout North America and Eurasia, having hooked bristles on the stems, leaves, and fruit that cling to fur or clothing.
2. Any of various other species in the genus Galium.
[Middle English clivers, probably blend of clife, burdock (from Old English clīfe) and clivres, claws (from Old English clifras, pl. of clifer).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
cleavers
(ˈkliːvəz)n
(Plants) (functioning as singular) a Eurasian rubiaceous plant, Galium aparine, having small white flowers and prickly stems and fruits. Also called: goosegrass, hairif or sticky willie
[Old English clīfe; related to clīfan to cleave2]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
cleav•ers
(ˈkli vərz)n., pl. -ers.
a North American plant, Galium aparine, of the madder family, having short, hooked bristles on the stems and leaves and bearing very small white flowers.
Also called goose grass. [before 1000; Middle English clivre, Old English clife burdock (-re probably by association with Middle English clivres (pl.) claws, or with the agent n. from cleven to cleave1)]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | cleavers - annual having the stem beset with curved prickles; North America and Europe and Asia bedstraw - any of several plants of the genus Galium |
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Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995