bulrush

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈbʊlˌrʌʃ/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈbʊlˌrʌʃ/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(bŏŏlrush′)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
bul•rush /ˈbʊlˌrʌʃ/USA pronunciation   n. [countable* usually plural]
  1. Plant Biologyany of various rushes of the sedge cattail families.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
bul•rush  (bŏŏlrush′),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. (in Biblical use) the papyrus, Cyperus papyrus.
  2. Plant Biologyany of various rushes of the genera Scirpus and Typha.
  • late Middle English bulrish papyrus, probably bull1 + rish rush2 1400–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
bulrush /ˈbʊlˌrʌʃ/ n
  1. a grasslike cyperaceous marsh plant, Scirpus lacustris, used for making mats, chair seats, etc
  2. a popular name for reed mace
  3. a biblical word for papyrus
Etymology: 15th Century bulrish, bul- perhaps from bull1 + rish rush2, referring to the largeness of the plant; sense 2 derived from the famous painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912), Dutch-born English painter, of the finding of the infant Moses in the "bulrushes" — actually reed mace
'bulrush' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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