Quitchgrass

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A perennial grass with spreading underground stems that is notoriously hard to eliminate from cultivated ground
2. A troublesome creeping grass with rhizomes that spreads aggressively and resists removal from fields and gardens
3. A persistent grass with underground runners that propagates readily and is difficult to eradicate from soil

Etymology: Quitchgrass is a name for couch grass, the aggressive weed whose creeping underground stems spread through gardens and fields. The "quitch" part is an older dialect word for the same plant, and the compound simply pairs it with "grass," so the name amounts to "grass called quitch." The plant's notoriety comes from how hard it is to eradicate, since any fragment of root left in the soil can sprout a new colony. The first element, "quitch," is the older form, and its survival in this compound preserves a name that the standard English word "couch" has largely replaced in everyday speech. Gardeners in some regions still use "quitch" and "quitchgrass" for the plant, and the spelling shows the regional pronunciation that the more familiar "couch" obscures.