cal·trop /ˈkæltrəp, ˈkɔl-/
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Cal·trop Cal·trap n.
1. Bot. A genus of herbaceous plants (Tribulus) of the order Zygophylleæ, having a hard several-celled fruit, armed with stout spines, and resembling the military instrument of the same name. The species grow in warm countries, and are often very annoying to cattle.
2. Mil. An instrument with four iron points, so disposed that, any three of them being on the ground, the other projects upward. They are scattered on the ground where an enemy's cavalry are to pass, to impede their progress by endangering the horses' feet.
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caltrop
n 1: tropical annual procumbent poisonous subshrub having fruit
that splits into five spiny nutlets; serious pasture
weed [syn: devil's weed, Tribulus terestris]
2: a plant of the genus Trapa bearing spiny four-pronged edible
nutlike fruits [syn: water chestnut, water chestnut
plant]
3: Mediterranean annual or biennial herb having pinkish to
purple flowers surrounded by spine-tipped scales;
naturalized in America [syn: star-thistle, Centauria
calcitrapa]