tussock

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: tus=sock

CIDE DICTIONARY

tussock, n. [From Tuz.].

•  A tuft, as of grass, twigs, hair, or the like; especially, a dense tuft or bunch of grass or sedge.  [1913 Webster]

  "Such laying of the hair in tussocks and tufts."  [1913 Webster]
•  Same as Tussock grass, below.  [1913 Webster]
•  A caterpillar of any one of numerous species of bombycid moths. The body of these caterpillars is covered with hairs which form long tufts or brushes. Some species are very injurious to shade and fruit trees. Called also tussock caterpillar. See Orgyia.  [1913 Webster]

Tussock grass. (Bot.) (a) A tall, strong grass of the genus Dactylis (Dactylis cæspitosa), valuable for fodder, introduced into Scotland from the Falkland Islands. (b) A tufted grass (Aira cæspitosa). (c) Any kind of sedge (Carex) which forms dense tufts in a wet meadow or boggy place. -- Tussock moth (Zoöl.), the imago of any tussock caterpillar. They belong to Orgyia, Halecidota, and allied genera.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tussock, n.
1 a clump of grass etc.
2 (in full tussock moth) any moth of the genus Orgyia etc., with tufted larvae.

Idiom

tussock grass grass growing in tussocks, esp. Poa flabellata from Patagonia etc.

Derivative

tussocky adj.

Etymology

16th c.: perh. alt. f. dial. tusk tuft