caltrop

caltrop

English

A caltrop used in the Vietnam War

The coat of arms of Boulaide, Luxembourg, featuring caltrops

Centaurea calcitrapa

Tribulus terrestris

Alternative forms

• caltrap

Etymology

From Old English calcatrippe (“plant that trips”), from Medieval Latin calcatrippa (“thistle”), from Latin calx or calcare + trappa.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: kăl'trəp, IPA^(key): /ˈkæltɹəp/
  • Rhymes: -æltɹəp
• (UK) enPR: kăl'trəp, IPA^(key): /ˈkæltɹəp/, enPR: kôl'trəp, IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːltɹəp/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -æltɹəp, -ɔːltɹəp

Noun

caltrop (plural caltrops)

1. (weaponry) A small, metal object with spikes arranged so that, when thrown onto the ground, one always faces up as a threat to pedestrians, horses, and vehicles.
   • 1858, The journal of the British Archaeological Association

     […] her father, the emperor Alexius, who reigned AD 1081-1118, ordered caltrops to be cast in front of his archers […]

   • 1954, Joseph Needham, Ling Wang, Science and civilisation in China

     By Sung times, several different types of caltrops had been developed. As in earlier times, both caltrops could be made from both wood and iron...

   • 2000, Alan Vick, Aerospace operations in urban environments: exploring new concepts:

     Caltrops, tetrahedrons, and similar devices are designed to puncture vehicle tires or limit foot traffic. The standard design has four points.

2. (heraldry) The same object represented as a heraldic charge.
3. (colloquial) The starthistle, Centaurea calcitrapa, a plant with sharp thorns.
4. Any of a number of flowering plants in the family Zygophyllaceae, including several members of the genus Kallstroemia and the species Tribulus terrestris, native to warm temperate and tropical regions.

Synonyms

• (weaponry): caltrap, galtrop, cheval trap, galthrap, galtrap, calthrop, crow’s foot, jackrock
• (starthistle): knapweed
• (Tribulus terrestris): puncturevine, cat's head, yellow vine, goathead, burra, gokharu, bindii.

Coordinate terms

• (weaponry): spike strip

Derived terms

• caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae)
• water caltrop

Translations

weaponry

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: please add this translation if you can Belarusian: кальчатка (kalʹčatka), чычак (čyčak), драцяны вожык (dracjany vóžyk) Catalan: obriülls m Chinese: Mandarin: 蒺藜 (zh) (jílí) Dutch: voetangel (nl) m, kraaienpoot (nl) m Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: jalkapiikki, kavioansa French: chausse-trape (fr), pied de corbeau Galician: abrollo (gl) m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Krähenfuß (de) m, Fußangel f Greek: Ancient: τρίβολος m (tríbolos) Hungarian: vassulyom, lábtövis Irish: grán catha m Italian: tribolo (it) m, piede di corvo (it) m Japanese: 鉄菱 (てつびし, tetsubishi) Korean: 마름쇠 (mareumsoe) Latin: mūrex m, tribulus m Macedonian: please add this translation if you can Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: abrolho (pt) m, estrepe (pt) m, miguelito (modern) Russian: чесно́к (ru) m (česnók) ("garlic"), про́волочный ёж m (próvoločnyj jóž) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: vranina nòga f Spanish: abrojo (es) Swedish: fotangel (sv) c Thai: ขวาก (th) (kwàak) Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

starthistle

Bulgarian: бодлива метличина (bodliva metličina) Catalan: obriülls m, cagatripa f, card vermell m Chinese: Mandarin: 紫星薊 (zǐxīngjì) Dutch: kalketrip (nl) c Finnish: piikkikaunokki French: centaurée chausse-trape (fr), chardon étoilé (fr) Hungarian: úti imola Portuguese: abrolho (pt) m Russian: василёк колючеголо́вый m (vasiljók koljučegolóvyj) Spanish: encojaperros, garbanzo del cura

Tribulus terrestris

Arabic: حَسَك‎ m (ḥasak) Armenian: տատաշ (hy) (tataš) Old Armenian: տատասկ (tatask) Azerbaijani: dəmirtikan Bulgarian: бабини зъби (babini zǎbi) Catalan: tríbol m Chinese: Mandarin: 蒺藜 (zh) (jílí) Finnish: okarennokki (fi) French: tribule terrestre (fr) Galician: abrollo (gl) m Georgian: კუროსთავი (ḳurostavi), ტატაში (ṭaṭaši) Hungarian: királydinnye (hu) Italian: tribulo comune Japanese: ハマビシ (hamabishi) Kabardian: жьэныпэуц (źenəpewuc) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: xencere Latin: tribulus m Macedonian: ба́бин за́б m (bábin záb) Navajo: shash nátʼoh Persian: خارخاسک‎ (xâr-hâsak) Portuguese: abrolho (pt) m Romanian: colții-babei (ro) m Russian: я́корец сте́лющийся m (jákorec stéljuščijsja), я́корец назе́мный m (jákorec nazémnyj) Spanish: abrojo terrestre, cadillo, cuerno de chivo, tribulo, cruz maltesa Tamil: நெருஞ்சி (ta) (neruñci), நெருஞ்சில் (ta) (neruñcil), கிட்டிரம் (kiṭṭiram) Turkish: çobançökerten, demir dikeni (tr)

See also

• caltrop on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Centaurea calcitrapa on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Kallstroemia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Tribulus terrestris on Wikipedia.Wikipedia