sb. Forms: 6–7 tussocke, (6 thussocke), 7–9 tussuck, 8– tussock, (9 -ack, -ac, ick). [perh. an altered form of TUSK sb.2 (which is known in 1530), assimilated to diminutives in -OCK; but the actual relation of the two forms, as well as their ulterior history, is obscure.]
1. A tuft or bunch of hair. Now rare (cf. sense 3).
1550. Latimer, Last Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (1584), 107 b. If they would keepe it [hair] … as they ought to doe, there should not any such Thussockes nor Tuftes be seene. Ibid. These Thussockes that are layd out now a dayes, there is no mention made in Scriptures, because they were not vsed in scripture tyme. They were not yet come to be so farre out of order, as to lay out suche Thussockes and Tuftes.
1550. Crowley, Epigr., 1303. If theyr hayre wyl not take colour, then must they by newe, And laye it oute in tussockis: this thynge is to true.
1893. Crockett, Stickit Minister (1894), 10. Bushy tussocks of grey eyebrow.
2. A tuft, clump, or matted growth, forming a small hillock, of grass, sedge, or the like; formerly also, a taft or bunch of leaves, thorns, etc.
1607. Markham, Caval., VI. iv. (1617), 12. If there bee any tussockes of long grasse, rushes, or dead fogge.
1681. Grew, Musæum, II. I. ii. 186. The Fruit [Prickle Apple] is remarkable for the several Tussucks or Bunches of Thorns wherewith it is armed.
1783. C. Bryant, Flora Diæt. (1787), 84. It hath a creeping root, from which comes forth a tussuck of long slender leaves.
1829. Loudon, Encycl. Plants (1836), 59. A[ira] cæspitosa is common in marsh-meadows, and occasions those excrescences called tussocks or hassocks which interrupt the progress of the scythe.
1883. Century Mag., XXVI. 925. Obliged to pick his way through an unusually soft marsh, springing from tussock to tussock.
1898. Dublin Rev., Jan., 166. Hills … overgrown with prickly plants forming rounded tussocks.
3. Short for tussock-moth or caterpillar: see 5.
1819. G. Samouelle, Entomol. Compend., 247. Lar[ia] pudibunda (pale tussock)…. Lar, fascelina (dark tussock).
1911. G. H. Carpenter, in Encycl. Brit., XVI. 472/2. The larvae … are very hairy, and often carry dense tufts on some of their segments; hence the name of ‘tussocks’ frequently applied to them.
4. Short for TUSSOCK-GRASS. Also in pl.
1832. C. M. Goodridge, Voy. South Seas, 34. The Johnnys build their nests … among the long grass, generally termed Tussick.
1869. Lady Barker, Station Life N. Zealand, iv. (1874), 25. Tussocks, the tall native grass, has the colour and appearance of hay.
1886. Britten & Holland, Eng. Plant-n., Tussocks, Agrostis vulgaris, and A. alba.—Glou[cester].
5. attrib. and Comb., as (in sense ‘covered with or consisting of tussock-grass’) tussock-bog, ground, mound; tussock-caterpillar, the larva of the tussock-moth; tussock-moth, one of various kinds of moth, as those of the genus Orgyia, the larvæ of which have long tufts of hairs; tussock-sedge, a species of sedge, Carex stricta, growing in thick clumps. See also TUSSOCK-GRASS.
1847. Sir J. C. Ross, Voy. S. Seas, II. 262. A *Tussock-bog (for so a tract of land covered with this grass is called).
1843. J. D. Hooker, in Gard. Chron., 4 March, 131/1. These heaps, or tussacks, grow generally apart, but within a few feet of one another,… so that, in walking among them, you are quite hidden from view, and the whole *Tussac ground is a perfect labyrinth.
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., III. xxx. 176. In the larva of *Tussock moths (Laria pudibunda, fascelina, etc.) the hairs are collected into tufts.
1887. Amer. Naturalist, XXI. 581. The white-marked tussock-moth, and the fall web-worm are the insects discussed.
1901. Westm. Gaz., 6 Sept., 10/2. The New York city parks have lately been invaded by a great army of caterpillars. The cause of all the trouble is the tussock moth.
1825. Waddell, Voy., 57. They differ from the king penguin … in having nests, which are sometimes in the sides of *tussac mounds.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Carex stricta, Greater Tufted Sedge, *Tussock Sedge.
Hence Tussocked a., covered with or formed into tussocks; planted, covered, etc., with tussock-grass; Tussocker (slang): see quot.; Tussocky a., abounding in or forming tussocks.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 540. The marshes … are banked, drained, *tussocked, ploughed, and harrowed.
1832. C. M. Goodridge, Voy. South Seas, 29. Our domicile … comfortable, in comparison to our boat tussicked up.
1892. Times, 27 Dec., 10/1. Sunlight filters through … to promote the growth of the tussocked grass.
1889. V. Pyke, Wild Will Enderby. x. 148. A ‘sun-downer’ or *‘tussocker’ … is … one who loiters about till dusk, and then makes for the nearest station or hut, to beg for shelter and food.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., II. 920. The grass [is liable] … to become *tussocky, or rise in large tufts.
1864. [H. W. Wheelwright], Spring Lapl., 54. We saw very little arable land, nothing but rough tussocky meadows.
1880. Seebohm, Siberia in Europe, 180. The tussocky ridges between the little bogs.
1908. Daily Chron., 24 Dec., 1/3. A girl who has … a piece of his tussocky brown hair in a little locket on her breast.
