tussock means A tuft or clump of green grass or similar verdure, forming a small hillock. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
tussock is pronounced /ˈtʌs.ək/.
Why “tussock” is a great word
TUSSOCK — [Noun] A dense tuft or clump of grass or similar vegetation, often forming a small hillock. Origin uncertain; likely a diminutive formation from the obsolete word 'tusk' (meaning 'a tuft of hair') + the suffix '-ock'. Compare Middle High German 'zūsach' ('thicket'), from 'zūse' ('lock of hair'), and Scottish Gaelic 'dosag' ('little tuft'). First attested in the 1540s. Unlike a "tuft"—a general, loose bunch of strands—or "sod"—a continuous, cut layer of turf—a tussock is a self-contained, resilient mound of rooted growth. It is the tough, knuckled foothold in a bog, the coarse hummock that tilts a grazing sheep, and the stubborn punctuation mark in a windswept moor—a miniature fortress of root and stem asserting its small, perennial order against the flattening expanse.
Etymology
Uncertain. Likely from or related to tusk + -ock (diminutive suffix). Compare Middle High German zūsach (“thicket”), a derivative of Middle High German zūse (“lock of hair”). Compare also Scottish Gaelic dosag (“little tuft”).
noun
- A tuft or clump of green grass or similar verdure, forming a small hillock.“An Indian grazing ground is all rocks and scrub and tussocks and little ravines, among which the herds scatter and disappear.”
- Tussock grass.“I yearned, painfully, for […] a sight and touch of a hillside covered with golden tussock.”