caltrop

/ˈkæltrəp/

Other forms: caltrops

Definitions of caltrop

1. noun

   tropical annual procumbent poisonous subshrub having fruit that splits into five spiny nutlets; serious pasture weed
   synonyms: Tribulus terestris, devil's weed

   type of:

   subshrub, suffrutex

   low-growing woody shrub or perennial with woody base
2. noun

   a plant of the genus Trapa bearing spiny four-pronged edible nutlike fruits
   synonyms: water chestnut, water chestnut plant

   types:

   Jesuits' nut, Trapa natans, water caltrop

   a variety of water chestnut

   Trapa bicornis, ling, ling ko

   water chestnut whose spiny fruit has two rather than 4 prongs

   type of:

   aquatic plant, hydrophyte, hydrophytic plant, water plant

   a plant that grows partly or wholly in water whether rooted in the mud, as a lotus, or floating without anchorage, as the water hyacinth
3. noun

   Mediterranean annual or biennial herb having pinkish to purple flowers surrounded by spine-tipped scales; naturalized in America
   synonyms: Centauria calcitrapa, star-thistle

   type of:

   centaury

   any plant of the genus Centaurea