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Cactus
//ˈkæktəs// adj, name, noun, slang
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Non-functional, broken, exhausted, dead. Australia, New-Zealand, not-comparable, slang
"I wouldn't mind throwing it away if it's cactus except for the VCR part which works fine, so then I'd be up for a new VCR as well."
Proper Noun
- 1 A city in Texas.
- 2 An unincorporated community in California.
Noun
- 1 Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
"On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns."
- 2 any succulent plant of the family Cactaceae native chiefly to arid regions of the New World and usually having spines wordnet
- 3 Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From taxonomic name Cactus, a name given in 1752 by Linnaeus for a genus of cacti (now superseded by the genus name Mammillaria), from Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos, “cardoon”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin.
Etymology 2
From taxonomic name Cactus, a name given in 1752 by Linnaeus for a genus of cacti (now superseded by the genus name Mammillaria), from Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos, “cardoon”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin.
See also for "cactus"
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