broomstraw

English

Etymology

From broom +‎ straw.

Noun

broomstraw (plural broomstraws)

1. A type of undesirable grass

   Synonym: broomsedge

   • 2016 February 12, Arlene Marturano, “Harvesting Brooms”, in Columbia Star‎^[1]:

     Native bees nest in broomstraw

   • 2019 March 13, Cole Maness, “How to Get Rid of Broomsedge/Broomstraw”, in Warren County Center‎^[2]:

     how do I get rid of all this Broomsedge/Broomstraw?

   • 2021 November 3, Kendra Phipps, “The Burden of Broomstraw”, in Stokes County Center‎^[3]:

     Research has shown that broomstraw prefers low fertility and low pH soils

Adjective

broomstraw (comparative more broomstraw, superlative most broomstraw)

1. Like a certain type of mechanical failure
   • 1998 September 2, “Air transportation safety investigation report A98H0003”, in Transportation Safety Board of Canada‎^[4]:

     Mechanical fractures with broomstraw-like appearance were found at 16 separate locations on frames and intercostals

   • 2001 July, Eric Adams, “Reading The Wreckage”, in Smithsonian Magazine‎^[5]:

     when it comes apart in an in-flight fire, it produces the “broomstraw effect,” in which the points where the metal has come apart will look stringy.

   • 2021 March 1, N. C. Ubani Ochoa, D. M. Cone, S. W. Stafford, J. D. Olivas, “Investigation of broom-straw fracture behavior of aluminum alloy 2024 debris recovered from Space Shuttle Columbia”, in Journal of Space Safety Engineering‎^[6], volume 8, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 4–11:

     Evaluation of sub-structural aluminum debris collected from Space Shuttle Columbia indicated broom-straw fracture of AA7075 seat legs