[TURK1]
† 1. The Melon-thistle; = TURK’S CAP 3; also called Englishman’s head, pope’s head. Obs.
1725. Sloane, Jamaica, II. 159. Turks head. This has a great many … roots,… which send up a very strange plant, or masse.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 330. Turk’s Head, Cactus.
2. Naut. An ornamental knot resembling a turban.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, vi. Whether something should not be fitted with a mouse or only a Turk’s head.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 5. The train tackles are fitted with a Turk’s head on the standing part.
1909. Blackw. Mag., April, 536/2. He could work a Turk’s head, cover a manrope, or point a lashing for the cabin table.
3. A round long-handled broom or brush; also called pope’s head.
1859. F. S. Cooper, Ironmongers’ Catal., 34. Turks’ Heads.
1889. Huxley, in 19th Cent., XX. 102. Phyllis, gracefully wielding her long-handled ‘Turk’s head.’
4. (See quot.) ? Obs.
1853. Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 345. This colour is generally known by the name of solitaire bistre, and sometimes turks-head.
5. A round pan for baking cake, having a conical core in the center.
1891. in Cent. Dict.
6. attrib. and Comb., as Turk’s-head besom, broom, brush (= 3); Turk’s-head grass, Lagurus ovatus, having a rounded inflorescence; hare’s-tail grass.
1851. Regul. R. Engineers, xix. 95. The bore must be well brushed out … with a Turks-head brush.
1853. Lytton, My Novel, X. xx. Dick was all for sweeping away other cobwebs,… he saw a great Turk’s head besom poked up at his own.
1882. Garden, 14 Jan., 28/3. Lagurus ovatus (the Turk’s-head Grass) is one of the most distinct kinds, as well as one of the best for keeping purposes.
1910. Chron. Lond. Mission. Soc., March, 44/1. What looks more like a turks-head broom than anything else.
