caltrop

Meaning

Noun

• A small, metal object with spikes arranged so that, when thrown onto the ground, one always faces up as a threat to pedestrians, horses, and vehicles.
• The same object represented as a heraldic charge.
• The starthistle, Centaurea calcitrapa (species), a plant with sharp thorns.
• Any of a number of flowering plants in the family Zygophyllaceae, including several members of the genus Kallstroemia (genus) and the species Tribulus terrestris, native to warm temperate and tropical regions.

Related

Similar words

• caltrap, galtrop, cheval trap, galthrap, galtrap, calthrop, crow’s foot
• knapweed
• puncturevine, cat's head, yellow vine, goathead, burra, gokharu, bindii.

Origin

• From Old English calcatrippe, from Medieval Latin calcatrippa, from Latin calx or calcare + trappa.