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#86828 11/13/02 01:56 PM
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From DISCOVER dec. 2002 p 67: "There were plenty of ailing trees, marked by dark cankers,
rivulets of sap, and trails of frass, telltale sawdust left by burrowing beetles."

Not in my dictionary, but sounds reminiscent of German "fressen" verb for animal eating.
(handy word when kids eat like pigs),

Frass - Frass. Click Here. Shop the National Geographic Store. ... Frass. plant fragments made by
plant­feeding insects, usually mixed with excrement. Invertebrate Explorer. ...
http://www.iversonsoftware.com/business/invertebrate/f/frass.htm


#86829 11/13/02 02:11 PM
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

frass


PRONUNCIATION:
frs
NOUN:
Debris or excrement produced by insects.
ETYMOLOGY:
German, feed, result of eating, insect damage, from Middle High German vrāz,
from Old High German frz, from frezzan, to eat. See ed- in Appendix I.


#86830 11/13/02 02:12 PM
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Any relation to "sassafrass" (sp?) ?


#86831 11/13/02 02:28 PM
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sassafras
n.
5Sp sasafras < ? earlier sassifragia, saxifrage6
1 a small E North American tree (Sassafras albidum) of the laurel family, having an aromatic bark,




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