glochid

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noun

A small, detachable, irritant spine occurring in dense clusters in the areoles of certain cacti such as the prickly pear.

Similar
glochidium
OriginAncient Greek γλωχίς →
Scrabble 14
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Meanings

nounglochid (plural glochids)

plural glochids

  1. A small, detachable, irritant spine occurring in dense clusters in the areoles of certain cacti such as the prickly pear.

    [The bunny-ears cactus is] a particularly unpleasant cactus with thousands of nearly invisible, glochid [...] spines.

    2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 29

    Synonyms: glochidium

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA small, detachable, irritant spine occurring in dense clusters in the areoles of certain cacti such as the prickly pear.

Similar
glochidium

More synonyms by meaning

nouna barbed spine or bristle (often tufted on cacti)

Similar
glochidium
Broader
spinethornprickle
Also see
glochidium

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekγλωχίς“barb of an arrow”
  2. Englishglochid

From Ancient Greek γλωχίς (glōkhís, “barb of an arrow”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

glochid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glochid

MLA

“glochid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glochid. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glochid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glochid.

Source: glochid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.