wire grass

noun

: any of various grasses or rushes having wiry culms or leaves: such as
a
: a Eurasian slender-stemmed meadow grass (Poa compressa) widely naturalized in the U.S. and Canada
b
: any of several coarse grasses (genus Aristida) with a 3-awned lemma that grow extensively in open dry, sandy, or sterile areas especially of the southeastern and south-central U.S.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The area around it is resplendent with wire grass, bluestem, and fennel. Wired, 29 July 2022 Across flat and empty fields of wire grass, the developers paved suburban streets and called them Old Waverly Court and Rolling Greene Drive. Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021

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

Word History

First Known Use

1751, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wire grass was in 1751

Dictionary Entries Near wire grass

Cite this Entry

“Wire grass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wire%20grass. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

Kids Definition

wire grass

noun
: any of various grasses or rushes having wiry stems or leaves
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