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

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

Noun

caltrop (plural caltrops)

2. (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.

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

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae)

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
• 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
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Krähenfuß (de) m, Fußangel f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: τρίβολος m (tríbolos)

• Hungarian: vassulyom, lábtövis
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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
• 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 jož)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: vranina nòga f

• Spanish: abrojo (es)
• Thai: ขวาก (th) (kwàak)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

starthistle

• Bulgarian: бодлива метличина (bodliva metličina)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紫星薊／紫星蓟 (zĭxīngjì)

• Dutch: kalketrip (nl) c
• Finnish: piikkikaunokki
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)
• Bulgarian: бабини зъби (babini zǎbi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蒺藜 (zh) (jílí)

• Finnish: okarennokki (fi)
• French: tribule terrestre (fr)
• Hungarian: királydinnye (hu)
• Italian: tribulo comune
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

See also

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