kudzu

noun kud·zu \ ˈku̇d-(ˌ)zü , ˈkəd- \

|Updated on: 30 May 2018

Definition of kudzu

: a fast-growing Asian vine (Pueraria lobata) of the legume family that is used for forage and erosion control and is often a serious weed in the southeastern U.S.

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Recent Examples of kudzu from the Web

By then, the disease had carpeted her pelvic organs like kudzu.

— jena pincott, Scientific American, "The Science of Endometriosis," 15 May 2018
Buildings are unencumbered by kudzu or graffiti and have tidy, sparsely furnished rooms, as though the inhabitants had only just fled (or been vaporized).

— nick paumgarten, The New Yorker, "How Fortnite Captured Teens’ Hearts and Minds," 14 May 2018
Southerners have found dozens of ways to eat kudzu, including making jams and jellies, and pickling the flowers that appear in late summer.

— the editors of organic life, Good Housekeeping, "8 Backyard Weeds You Can Actually Eat," 3 Apr. 2017
Third, Sheader and his designers, Tom Scutt and Lee Curran, kiss off the retro camp, which usually attaches itself to this material like kudzu.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "How good is 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at the Lyric? Better than NBC's, perfect for millennials, as good a rock-album musical as it can be," 29 Apr. 2018
But the seeds sown during Watergate cover us like kudzu now, so the sight of a former president admitting criminal complicity on prime-time television is almost worthy of nostalgia at this point.

— dmitry samarov, Chicago Reader, "Frost/Nixon depicts the thoughtfulness and grace of . . . Richard Nixon?," 26 Apr. 2018
The story follows a dozen or so distinct characters in and around the real town of Charleston, Mississippi, where a chemical company's attempt to control the spread of kudzu inadvertently spawns a zombie plague.

— noel murray, latimes.com, "It may not be deep, but 'Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies' is bursting with regional flavor," 22 Mar. 2018
Magic promotes the encroachment of the brambles, a kind of killer kudzu that puts those who touch it into a death-like sleep.

— michael berry, San Francisco Chronicle, "Roundup of new science fiction and fantasy books, March 18," 14 Mar. 2018
This seed, present at the beginning of our subjugation as slaves, has sprouted and thrived as virulently as kudzu.

— jesmyn ward, The Atlantic, "How Poverty and Racism Persist in Mississippi," 1 Mar. 2018

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