pussy willow /ˈpʊsi-/



 Pussy n.
 1. A pet name for a cat; also, an endearing name for a girl.
 2. A catkin of the pussy willow.
 3. The game of tipcat; -- also called pussy cat.
 Pussy willow Bot., any kind of willow having large cylindrical catkins clothed with long glossy hairs, especially the American Salix discolor; -- called also glaucous willow, and swamp willow.


 Swamp n.  Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the seashore.
    Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.   --Tennyson.
    A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only herbage, plants, and mosses.   --Farming Encyc. (E. Edwards, Words).
 Swamp blackbird. Zool. See Redwing (b).
 Swamp cabbage Bot., skunk cabbage.
 Swamp deer Zool., an Asiatic deer (Rucervus Duvaucelli) of India.
 Swamp hen. Zool. (a) An Australian azure-breasted bird (Porphyrio bellus); -- called also goollema. (b) An Australian water crake, or rail (Porzana Tabuensis); -- called also little swamp hen. (c) The European purple gallinule.
 Swamp honeysuckle Bot., an American shrub (Azalea viscosa syn. Rhododendron viscosa or Rhododendron viscosum) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called also swamp pink and white swamp honeysuckle.
 Swamp hook, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling logs.  Cf. Cant hook.
 Swamp itch. Med. See Prairie itch, under Prairie.
 Swamp laurel Bot., a shrub (Kalmia glauca) having small leaves with the lower surface glaucous.
 Swamp maple Bot., red maple. See Maple.
 Swamp oak Bot., a name given to several kinds of oak which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak (Quercus palustris), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), swamp post oak (Quercus lyrata).
 Swamp ore Min., bog ore; limonite.
 Swamp partridge Zool., any one of several Australian game birds of the genera Synoicus and Excalfatoria, allied to the European partridges.
 Swamp robin Zool., the chewink.
 Swamp sassafras Bot., a small North American tree of the genus Magnolia (Magnolia glauca) with aromatic leaves and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also sweet bay.
 Swamp sparrow Zool., a common North American sparrow (Melospiza Georgiana, or Melospiza palustris), closely resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy places.
 Swamp willow. Bot. See Pussy willow, under Pussy.


 Wil·low n.
 1. Bot. Any tree or shrub of the genus Salix, including many species, most of which are characterized often used as an emblem of sorrow, desolation, or desertion. “A wreath of willow to show my forsaken plight.” --Sir W. Scott. Hence, a lover forsaken by, or having lost, the person beloved, is said to wear the willow.
 And I must wear the willow garland
 For him that's dead or false to me.   --Campbell.
 2. Textile Manuf. A machine in which cotton or wool is opened and cleansed by the action of long spikes projecting from a drum which revolves within a box studded with similar spikes; -- probably so called from having been originally a cylindrical cage made of willow rods, though some derive the term from winnow, as denoting the winnowing, or cleansing, action of the machine. Called also willy, twilly, twilly devil, and devil.
 Almond willow, Pussy willow, Weeping willow. Bot. See under Almond, Pussy, and Weeping.
 Willow biter Zool. the blue tit. [Prov. Eng.]
 Willow fly Zool., a greenish European stone fly (Chloroperla viridis); -- called also yellow Sally.
 Willow gall Zool., a conical, scaly gall produced on willows by the larva of a small dipterous fly (Cecidomyia strobiloides).
 Willow grouse Zool., the white ptarmigan.  See ptarmigan.
 Willow lark Zool., the sedge warbler. [Prov. Eng.]
 Willow ptarmigan Zool. (a) The European reed bunting, or black-headed bunting.  See under Reed. (b) A sparrow (Passer salicicolus) native of Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe.
 Willow tea, the prepared leaves of a species of willow largely grown in the neighborhood of Shanghai, extensively used by the poorer classes of Chinese as a substitute for tea. --McElrath.
 Willow thrush Zool., a variety of the veery, or Wilson's thrush.  See Veery.
 Willow warbler Zool., a very small European warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus); -- called also bee bird, haybird, golden wren, pettychaps, sweet William, Tom Thumb, and willow wren.


 pussy willow
      n 1: small willow of eastern North America having grayish leaves
           and silky catkins that come before the leaves [syn: {Salix
           discolor]
      2: much-branched Old World willow having large catkins and
         relatively large broad leaves [syn: goat willow, {florist's
         willow, Salix caprea]