bulrush

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablebiology

   A tall plant with long stiff stems that grows in shallow water and marshes, forming dense stands.

   Grammar: Plural bulrushes; often used collectively: a bed of bulrushes.

   Patterns

   • a bed of bulrushes

   Ducks hid among the bulrushes at the edge of the pond.

   The stems of bulrush were once woven into mats.

   Tall bulrushes swayed in the wind.

2. 2nouncountableinformal

   A cattail, a marsh plant with a brown furry spike, called bulrush in everyday speech.

   Grammar: Informal use; botanists keep the name for a different plant.

   The children picked a bulrush to wave like a torch.

   A brown bulrush stood by the ditch.

Word forms

Common combinations

bed of bulrushes

A bed of bulrushes grew by the lake.

among the bulrushes

The baby was hidden among the bulrushes.

bulrush stems

Bulrush stems were used to make baskets.

thick bulrushes

Thick bulrushes lined the bank.

marsh bulrush

A marsh bulrush grew by the stream.

Synonyms and how they differ

cattail

Cattail is the common American name for the plant with a brown spike, while bulrush is more common in British use.

reed

Reed is a more general name for tall water-side grasses, while bulrush names specific plants.

rush

Rush is a wider name for grass-like marsh plants and sounds more general.

Word family

rush noun

a grass-like marsh plant

bulrushes noun

plural form

rushy adjective

full of rushes

Commonly confused: bulrush or bullrush? bulrush or cattail?

Practice

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