(n.) An ament; a species of inflorescence, consisting of a slender axis with many unisexual apetalous flowers along its sides, as in the willow and poplar, and (as to the staminate flowers) in the chestnut, oak, hickory, etc. -- so called from its resemblance to a cat's tail. See Illust. of Ament.
Example Sentences:
(1) The extracts with the broadest spectra of activity were prepared from: Alnus rubra bark and catkins, Fragaria chiloensis leaves, Moneses uniflora aerial parts, and Rhus glabra branches.
(2) Dot immunoblotting of crude extracts of various aerial parts of birch trees, using patient serum rich in birch pollen IgE, showed IgE-binding activity in leaves, buds, twigs, seeds, bark, and old male catkins.
(3) Ginger, pippali (native to India; also called dried catkins), pepper, and garlic showed the highest activity followed by asafetida, mustard, and horse-gram (native to India).
(4) The current 2012 edition maintained the changes, and instead of catkin, cauliflower, chestnut and clover, today’s edition of the dictionary, which is aimed at seven-year-olds starting Key Stage Two, features cut and paste, broadband and analogue.
(5) Hazel catkins were profuse, catching out hay fever sufferers late in the month.
(6) • Hazel catkins, which usually appear in March and April, appeared early in autumn at Washington Old Hall, Tyne and Wear, for the second year running • Mammals generally entered the winter in good condition, especially badgers, wild deer, and the wild sheep and goats in Cheddar Gorge.
(7) You can also lobby your local council to get trees planted that are bee-friendly, such as hazel and alder whose catkins provide a vital source of pollen in the spring, when the bees need this protein to feed to their young, expanding colony.
(8) Mica flecks in ancient granite shone like gold dust in caramel-coloured streams, beech trees were decorated with delicately suspended catkins and the upland breezes infused with coconut-like scent from early flowering gorse.
Willow
Definition:
(n.) Any tree or shrub of the genus Salix, including many species, most of which are characterized often used as an emblem of sorrow, desolation, or desertion. "A wreath of willow to show my forsaken plight." Sir W. Scott. Hence, a lover forsaken by, or having lost, the person beloved, is said to wear the willow.
(n.) A machine in which cotton or wool is opened and cleansed by the action of long spikes projecting from a drum which revolves within a box studded with similar spikes; -- probably so called from having been originally a cylindrical cage made of willow rods, though some derive the term from winnow, as denoting the winnowing, or cleansing, action of the machine. Called also willy, twilly, twilly devil, and devil.
(v. t.) To open and cleanse, as cotton, flax, or wool, by means of a willow. See Willow, n., 2.
Example Sentences:
(1) Flight behavior was also typical for willow ptarmigan incubating in captivity.
(2) Words included in this title include mistletoe, gerbil, acorn, goldfish, guinea pig, dandelion, starling, fern, willow, conifer, heather, buttercup, sycamore, holly, ivy, and conker.
(3) Dairy farmer Dave Lawrence took the Guardian to the spot where the beavers are usually seen, close to an island in the river thick with nettles, willow and thistles.
(4) The rats produced IgE antibodies to each of the allergens used (maple, willow, poplar, ash, oak, sycamore, hickory, walnut, birch, and elm), yet the allergens had extremely limited cross-reactivity.
(5) In wild incubating willow ptarmigan, further approach led to tachycardia and increased respiration.
(6) Other popular Mackintosh designs in his home town of Glasgow include the Lighthouse, the Willow Tearooms and House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park.
(7) The tortoises also rapidly dropped into the water, as our boat ruffled the surface amid the willows breaking the reflections of the trees.
(8) Who wouldn’t fall in love with Mole from Wind in the Willows, Jo from Little Women, Tiny Tim from Christmas Carol or Roberta from The Railway Children?” At Wordsworth Editions, the independent press that publishes around 220 classic titles for £1.99 apiece, managing director Helen Ranson said she was “delighted” that Gibb was addressing the issue of providing classics affordably to schools.
(9) Nearly 12 years after conservationists asked government to help save the disappearing water vole, the whiskered creature that inspired the character Ratty in Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows - along with seahorses, a shark and an edible snail - has become one of Britain's most protected species.
(10) Meanwhile Chris Sutcliffe has a scorched-earth policy when it comes to the old knotweed: "I had an infestation of Rosebay Willow Herb and successfully got rid of it by introducing pigs and a severe electric fence."
(11) This study compared plasma levels of dihydrotestosterone, testosterone, corticosterone, luteinizing hormone, growth hormone, and prolactin in migrating juvenile willow tits with those in territorial juveniles.
(12) 1.09pm GMT Local reaction to Lord Smith’s visit, such as this from farmer John Coate, seems largely negative: steven morris (@stevenmorris20) Willow farmer Jonathan Coate: glad David Cameron has promised action.
(13) Small birds rose up in clouds from the pond’s edge: chaffinches, bramblings, a flock of long-tailed tits that caught in willow branches like animated cotton buds.
(14) In writing his autobiography, he admits he may be putting a writerly shine on his past, but he believes his literary fate stretches back to when he first picked up a copy of The Wind in the Willows , aged 10.
(15) Asked why his first stop was not one of the flooded villages but a high – and therefore dry – willows and wetlands centre, Smith said he did not want to get in the way of emergency workers.
(16) An avenue of eight 25ft tall leafless willows stand above a sinister black pool to make the point that British woods and gardens face a host of new killer pests and diseases such as ash dieback.
(17) Just as Mr Toad had to be relieved of the keys before he flattened every living thing in Wind in the Willows , so human nature had made the advent of driverless cars pretty much inevitable even before this week’s Queen’s speech promised measures to build a market for them.
(18) That might be an occupational hazard for an investigative journalist, but if, as Peacock testified, cricketers are coming to the attention of dangerous fixers, it brings a chilling dimension to the game of leather on willow.
(19) There are seven black women gracing fall magazine covers: Willow Smith, Beyoncé, Kerry Washington, Ciara, Serena Williams, Misty Copeland and Amandla Stenberg.
(20) Education St Aelred's RC high school, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside; Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, MA in English.