Rhizome: meaning, definitions and examples

Typically used in botany to describe a type of underground plant stem, often growing horizontally. Rhizomes are important in plant propagation and storage of nutrients.

• Ginger is an example of a plant with a rhizome.
• The gardener noticed that the plant's rhizome was spreading underground.

Another term for a rhizome, more commonly used in informal or everyday discussions about gardening and plants. It refers to the part of a plant that can create new shoots and roots.

• We need to dig around the rootstalk to ensure we transplant the whole plant.
• The rootstalk can survive harsh winters and sprout new growth in the spring.

Refers to a type of above-ground stolon that extends from the main plant and can develop new plants at its nodes. Often used when talking about strawberry plants or other plants that spread rapidly.

• Strawberry plants propagate through runners that spread across the ground.
• The gardener cut back the runners to control the spread of the mint plant.

A term often used in biological sciences to describe a type of underground plant stem that sends out roots and shoots. It can also be used metaphorically in philosophy and critical theory to describe non-hierarchical systems.

• Ginger is a type of plant that grows from a rhizome.
• Deleuze and Guattari use rhizome as a concept to explain the complexity of social systems.

Mostly used to refer to a system of interconnected people, organizations, or computers. It is often used in professional or technological contexts.

• She has built an extensive network of contacts in the industry.
• The company's computer network went down last night.

Commonly refers to a spider's intricate network of threads or, in a figurative sense, to a complex system or structure. It’s also frequently used to talk about the World Wide Web.

• The spider spun its web between the branches.
• She got caught in a web of lies.
• Accessing information is easier thanks to the web.