fescue noun & verb. ['fɛskju:] Also (earlier) festu. LME.
[Old French festu (mod. fétu) from Proto-Romance, from Latin festuca stalk, stem, straw.]
A. noun.
1. A straw, a twig; something small or trivial. LME-E17.

2. A small stick etc. for pointing out the letters to children learning to read; a pointer. Now rare. E16.

3. Any of various perennial freq. wiry and tufted grasses constituting the genus Festuca; any of several slender annual grasses constituting the genus Vulpia. Also fescue-grass. M18.
Chewings fescue, rat's-tail fescue, red fescue, sheep's fescue, etc.
B. verb trans. Direct or assist in reading, using a fescue. M17-M18.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲