dodder

views updated May 21 2018

dod·der1 / ˈdädər/ • v. [intr.] tremble or totter, typically because of old age: spent and nerve-weary, I doddered into the foyer of a third-rate hotel | [as adj.] (doddering) that doddering old fool.DERIVATIVES: dod·der·er n.dod·der·y adj.dod·der2 • n. a widely distributed parasitic climbing plant (genus Cuscuta) of the morning glory family, with leafless threadlike stems that are attached to the host plant by means of suckers.

dodder

views updated Jun 27 2018

dodder Leafless, parasitic, twining plant with a thread-like stem and clusters of small yellow flowers. It feeds using haustoria, modified roots that enter the host plant. Family Convolvulaceae; species Cuscuta europaea.

dodder

views updated Jun 08 2018

dodder 2 (dial.) tremble, shake XVII; totter, potter XIX. var. of or parallel form to †dadder (XV).
Hence doddery xx.

dodder

views updated May 23 2018

dodder 1 parasitic genus of plants, Cuscuta. XIII. corr. to MLG. dod(d)er, MHG. toter (G. dotter), of unkn. orig.

dodder

views updated May 23 2018

dodder See CUSCUTA.