caltrop

Definitions


[ˈkaltrəp], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a spiked metal device thrown on the ground to impede wheeled vehicles or (formerly) cavalry horses
(e.g: militant demonstrators threw a box of caltrops across the highway)

- a creeping plant with woody carpels that typically have hard spines and resemble military caltrops



Phrases:

Origin:
Old English calcatrippe, denoting any plant which tended to catch the feet, from medieval Latin calcatrippa, from calx ‘heel’ or calcare ‘to tread’ + a word related to trap. caltrop was probably adopted from French




definition by Oxford Dictionaries