shavegrass
(ˈʃeɪvgrɑːs, -æ-)
Also 5 schave-, 6 schavi-, 7 sheav-.
[f. shave v. + grass n. Cf. shave-rush, shavewort.]
A plant of the genus Equisetum (see horse-tail 2); esp. E. hyemale.
| c 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 37 Cauda equina, cauda caballina idem est. angl. schauegres. 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (1881) 64 Polygonum femina is called in Englishe thycke Shauegrasse, or short Shaue grasse. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccccxlii. 956 This small or naked Shaue grasse, wherewith Fletchers and Combemakers doe..polish their worke, riseth out of the ground like..Asparagus. 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. li. 408 It is more..hurtful than..the Sheavgrass to the Mowers of Hay. 1773 Hawkesworth's Acc. Voy. III. 644 [It] bites upon wood almost as keenly as the shave-grass of Europe. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 613 Rubbing with horse's tail (shave-grass) the parts to be yellowed. Ibid., Rubbing the whole work with shave-grass, to remove any granular appearance. 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 386 Rough Horsetail, Shave-grass, Dutch Rush. |