bracken

noun brack·en \ ˈbra-kən \

|Updated on: 27 Jul 2018

Definition of bracken

1 : a large coarse fern; especially : a nearly cosmopolitan brake (Pteridium aquilinum) found in most tropical and temperate regions

2 : a growth of brakes

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Recent Examples of bracken from the Web

Another curious find from the recent study was traces of bracken, a type of fern, in Ötzi’s stomach.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Before He Died, Ötzi the Iceman Ate a Greasy, Fatty Meal," 13 July 2018
The Iceman’s last meal was balanced with grains from einkorn wheat and traces of a genus of toxic ferns called bracken.

— lizzie wade, Science | AAAS, "The ‘Iceman’s’ last meal was a high-fat feast," 12 July 2018
Around them there seemed to be an infinite sampling of vegetation: ferns and clover and scrub and bracken giving way to maples and firs and oaks and hemlocks covered in lichen and moss.

— david gilbert, The New Yorker, "Fungus," 4 June 2017
The forest floor was nearly bare, except for clumps of charcoal and a few short stems of bracken fern and fireweed, a hot pink flower whose seeds often blow in and germinate just after a conflagration.

— madeline ostrander, Smithsonian, "The National Parks Face a Looming Existential Crisis," 14 Sep. 2017
Before the fire, the ground was a carpet of moss, huckleberry bushes, and sword and bracken ferns, and was usually sodden with rain for about nine months of the year or more.

— madeline ostrander, Smithsonian, "The National Parks Face a Looming Existential Crisis," 14 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bracken.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.