Pronunciation: /ˈbʊlrʌʃ/
(also bullrush)
noun
1 A tall reed-like water plant with strap-like leaves and a dark brown velvety cylindrical head of numerous tiny flowers. Also called reed mace.
Genus Typha, family Typhaceae: several species, in particular T. latifolia.
2 another term for clubrush.
3 (In biblical use) a papyrus plant.
Origin
Late Middle English: probably from bull1 in the sense 'large or coarse', as in words such as bullfrog.
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Bulrush, as I understand from the perspective of a US native, is the British/European term used for a widespread wetlands plant. Though also used that way in the US, the more common term is "cattail" and there's an entirely different grassy plant relative, Scirpus which I've seen called bulrush, too. (All of this is NOT to be confused with a "bull rush" which is a technique used by defensive players in American football, pushing the offensive lineman backwards. (Oh, and these plants have absolutely nothing to do with a bull in a hurry, so what's he doing in the image?)
![Image](http://runeman.org/clipart/bull-bulrush.png)
![Image](http://runeman.org/clipart/bull-rush.png)
[No matter how you look at it, that's a lot of bull.]