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water sprout
noun
: a vigorous upright shoot from an adventitious or latent bud on the trunk or main branch of a tree
Examples of water sprout in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Suckers and water sprouts often occur because plants are in some way stressed or due to damage to their root system.
—Dawn Pettinelli, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2024
Lemons require the most pruning, primarily of vertical growing water sprouts that show great vigor but no fruit production.
—Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 27 Jan. 2024
Every time the water sprouts are pruned off, the tree is able to heal the wounds and resprout from dormant buds in the surrounding tissue the next year.
—Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2023
According to state officials, the animals were likely caught in a water sprout.
—Michael Hollan, Fox News, 4 Jan. 2022
Then look for water sprouts (the weak limbs that grow straight up) and thin those out.
—oregonlive, 11 Feb. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'water sprout.' 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
1688, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near water sprout
Cite this Entry
“Water sprout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20sprout. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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