Word Study
bird's-foot
CIDE DICTIONARY
bird's-foot, n.
A papilionaceous plant, the Ornithopus , having a curved, cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point. [1913 Webster]
Bird's-foot trefoil. (Bot.) (a) A genus of plants (Lotus ) with clawlike pods. Lotus corniculatas , with yellow flowers, is very common in Great Britain. (b) the related plant, Trigonella ornithopodioides , is also European.
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