spinifex meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

spinifex

noun

Etymology From translingual Spinifex (genus name), from Latin spina (“spine”) + Latin -fex (“maker”) (from Latin facere (“to make”)).

Any of numerous species of grass in genus Spinifex, growing in sand dunes.

Australia Any of several spiny grass species of the genus Triodia, endemic to arid outback Australia.

And there will be Ethel watching, just standing there, stirring something on the kitchen stove, or dusting the mahogany sideboard, or polishing the silver, and looking out the window, staring, just staring, as though she were watching the spinifex growing, or the sky hanging there, just staring with that terrible effrontery of someone who will not deign to react.1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 269:

Derived terms: buck spinifex, spinifexbird, spinifex mouse, spinifex pigeon, spinifex termite
Related terms: mulga

spinifex

adj

Etymology From translingual Spinifex (genus name), from Latin spina (“spine”) + Latin -fex (“maker”) (from Latin facere (“to make”)).

Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, Natural sciences, Petrology, Physical sciences Composed of dendritic plates, which present as the scored texture of bundled, spine-like structures typical of komatiites.