cordgrass

noun

cord·​grass ˈkȯrd-ˌgras How to pronounce cordgrass (audio)
: any of a genus (Spartina) of chiefly salt-marsh grasses of coastal regions of Europe, northern Africa, and the New World that have stiff culms and panicled spikelets

Examples of cordgrass in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In the distance, the scraggly skeletons of tall, once-majestic trees reach up out of the cordgrass, a reminder that not long ago this wasn’t marshland at all. Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 11 Apr. 2024 Spartina, a perennial cordgrass grown in salt marshes, provides habitat for wildlife. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 31 July 2023 With an oyster trail flag attached to the boat snapping in the breeze, the Faisons steer their pontoon through a maze of traffic and into the network of channels off the waterway, through cordgrass where the occasional alligator lurks in the summer months. Emily Cataneo, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Aug. 2022 More than half of the main island is salt marsh, and the knee-high cordgrass and black needlerush seemingly stretched to the Earth’s curve. Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 1 July 2022 Native plants like the Pacific cordgrass and pickleweed provide the muscle for sea level rise adaptation, said John Callaway, a wetlands restoration ecologist at the University of San Francisco. Julie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Oct. 2021 East Anglia, the region with the country’s lowest average rainfall, is home to flora like corn chamomile, cordgrass and rolling heather but is also burdened with dry, sandy soil. New York Times, 15 Oct. 2021 Clapper Rails live most of their lives on the ground, running through the cordgrass, staying well out of sight. Jacob Job, Scientific American, 16 July 2021 Environmental requirements include dredging of an ocean inlet to the Bolsa Chica wetlands, restoration of Bolsa Chica cordgrass marsh and creation of artificial reef habitat for fish off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cordgrass.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cordgrass was in 1857

Dictionary Entries Near cordgrass

Cite this Entry

“Cordgrass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cordgrass. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

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