beggar's-lice

noun

Any of various plants, including Galium aparine and (US) Hackelia virginiana, which stick to clothing.

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Meanings

nounbeggar's-lice pl (plural only)

alternative beggars'-lice · alternative beggar lice

  1. pluralplural onlyAny of various plants, including Galium aparine and (US) Hackelia virginiana, which stick to clothing.

    I had gotten beggar lice and twigs and stuff all over me, inside my clothes and shoes and all, and then I happened to look around and I had my hand right on a bunch of poison oak..

    1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
Cite this entry
APA

beggar's-lice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beggar's-lice

MLA

“beggar's-lice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beggar's-lice. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beggar's-lice,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beggar's-lice.

Source: beggar's-lice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.