caltrop

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Related to Caltrops: water caltrops

cal·trop

(kăl′trəp, kôl′-)

2. Any of various plants bearing small spiny fruits, especially of the genera Tribulus and Kallstroemia.

3. A metal device with four projecting spikes so arranged that when three of the spikes are on the ground, the fourth points upward, used as a hazard to pneumatic tires or to the hooves of horses.

[Middle English calketrappe, from Norman French and from Old English calcatrippe, thistle, both from Medieval Latin calcatrippa, thistle : possibly from Latin calcāre, to tread on; see calque + trappa, trap (of Germanic origin).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

caltrop

(ˈkæltrəp) or

caltrap

;

calthrop

(ˈkælθrəp)

1. (Plants) any tropical or subtropical plant of the zygophyllaceous genera Tribulus and Kallstroemia that have spiny burs or bracts

2. (Plants) water caltrop another name for water chestnut¹

3. (Plants) another name for the star thistle

4. (Military) military a four-spiked iron ball or four joined spikes laid upon the ground as a device to lame cavalry horses, puncture tyres, etc

[Old English calcatrippe (the plant), from Medieval Latin calcatrippa, probably from Latin calx heel + trippa trap¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cal•trop

or cal•trap

(ˈkæl trəp)

also cal•throp

(-θrəp)

n.

1. any of several plants having spiny heads or fruit, as those of the genera Tribulus and Kallstroemeria.

2. an iron ball with four projecting spikes, one of which always points upward when the ball is placed on the ground: used to obstruct cavalry, vehicles, etc.

[before 1000; Middle English calketrappe, Old English calcatrippe]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	caltrop - tropical annual procumbent poisonous subshrub having fruit that splits into five spiny nutlets; serious pasture weed devil's weed, Tribulus terestris genus Tribulus, Tribulus - annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs of warm regions subshrub, suffrutex - low-growing woody shrub or perennial with woody base
	2.	caltrop - a plant of the genus Trapa bearing spiny four-pronged edible nutlike fruits water chestnut, water chestnut plant genus Trapa, Trapa - small genus of Eurasian aquatic perennial herbs: water chestnut Jesuits' nut, Trapa natans, water caltrop - a variety of water chestnut ling, ling ko, Trapa bicornis - water chestnut whose spiny fruit has two rather than 4 prongs aquatic plant, hydrophyte, hydrophytic plant, water plant - a plant that grows partly or wholly in water whether rooted in the mud, as a lotus, or floating without anchorage, as the water hyacinth
	3.	caltrop - Mediterranean annual or biennial herb having pinkish to purple flowers surrounded by spine-tipped scales; naturalized in America Centauria calcitrapa, star-thistle centaury - any plant of the genus Centaurea

References in classic literature ?

'Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable.

View in context

They could have also been used when riding into battle as horses wearing them would have avoided painful caltrops devices scattered to make a horse lame, or for better traction on ice and mud.

Game of stones sees the light again after 1,800 years

They could have also been used for offensive purposes, for example, riding into battle wearing these would have avoided painful caltrops devices scattered to make a horse lame, or for better traction on ice and mud.

Fancy a game of Ludus latrunculorum? It seems the Romans certainly did; Boardgame unearthed at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall gives a glimpse of life on the edge of the Roman empire 1,800 years ago

They range from basic six-inch nails found embedded in the ground, to homemade caltrops - also known as crow's feet - similar to those once scattered on battlefields to halt advancing calvary.

The frightening lengths people go to stop off-roaders

Dash added new scenarios, designing for hostility: caltrops, explosives, malware.

Tierra y libertad

(2) Classic A2/AD methods have been aimed at denying a human operator access to some location; scenarios ranged from medieval caltrops stopping a cavalry charge to the use of various forms of land mines.

THE ROLE OF THE HUMAN OPERATOR IN THE THIRD OFFSET STRATEGY

Tire deflation Caltrops spikes would be very effective.

Defeating small civilian unmanned aerial systems to maintain air superiority

Most recently Heppell has pressed home the evolutionary interactionist paradigm and, in Freemanesque style, arranges his defensive caltrops against incursions into the anthropological territory of the Iban, so that an extended appendix is devoted exclusively to a criticism of Gavin, who is seen as the insufficiently trained and culturally unaware intruder (Heppell 2014: Appendix 1, 149-69).

Claiming authority: Derek Freeman, his legacy and interpretations of the Iban of Borneo

Marines saw them as helping minimize civilian casualties, while countering looters and rioters, who sought credit for "driving the Americans back into the sea." (16) Marine reservists, who used them in law enforcement, trained Marines to use oleoresin capsicum "pepper" spray; non-lethal shotgun rounds; non-lethal grenades projecting small rubber balls; road spikes or "caltrops"; and other devices.

U.S. military use of non-lethal weapons: reality vs. perceptions

Amongst these might be mentioned a variegated form of the Red Goosefoot, Chenopodium rubrum, L., and the Caltrops, Tribulus terrestris, L.