cleavers

English

Etymology 1

Noun

cleavers

1. plural of cleaver

Etymology 2

Cleavers

From Middle English clivers, probably from Old English clife (“burdock”).

Noun

cleavers (uncountable)

1. Galium aparine, a herbaceous annual bedstraw of the family Rubiaceae.
   • 1998, Terry R. Roberts, Metabolic Pathways of Agrochemicals (part 1, page 448)

     Quinmerac is primarily used for the post-emergence control of cleavers, speedwells and other broad-leaved weeds in cereals, oilseed rape and sugar beet.

Usage notes

• Plural in form; used with singular or plural verb.

Synonyms

• cleaverwort
• sticky willy

Translations

Galium aparine

• Catalan: apegalosa (ca) m or f
• French: gaillet gratteron (fr) m
• German: Kletten-Labkraut n
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπαρίνη f (aparínē), ἀμπελόκαρπον n (ampelókarpon)

• Irish: garbhlus m
• Polish: przytulia czepna (pl) f
• Turkish: yoğurt otu (tr)
• Welsh: llau'r offeiriad f pl

References

• “cleavers”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “cleavers”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.