kudzu

Etymology

From Japanese クズ (葛, kuzu). The spelling kudzu (instead of kuzu) is due to historical transliteration methods of Japanese into English (compare adzuki).

noun

1. An Asian vine (several species in the genus Pueraria, but mostly Pueraria montans var. lobata, syn. Pueraria lobata in the US), grown as a root starch, and which is a notorious invasive weed in the United States.
   By 2020, droughts and other extreme weather will be commonplace. By 2040, the Sahara will be moving into Europe, and Berlin will be as hot as Baghdad. Atlanta will end up a kudzu jungle. 2007-11-01, Jeff Goodell, “James Lovelock, the Prophet”, in Rolling Stone
   Walled off communities, private jets, private security details are spreading like kudzu around the world. 2011-08-31, Ashley Dawson, “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor: An Interview with Rob Nixon”, in Social Text
   All the author’s familiar trademarks are here: […] shaggy-dog plotlines sprouting everywhere, like kudzu; […] 2013-09-10, Michiko Kakutani, “A Calamity Tailor-Made for Internet Conspiracy Theories”, in New York Times
2. (cooking, medicine) A starch extracted from the root that is used in traditional East Asian medicine and cuisine.
   Kudzu is available in natural food stores and Oriental markets; it is often sold in lumps that must be crushed in a mortar before measuring. 1989 November, Drew DeSilver, Jan Gahala, “What is that stuff?”, in Vegetarian Times, →ISSN, page 43
   Kudzu, a starch extracted from the root of the kudzu plant, acts similarly to cornstarch or arrowroot but is preferable for bone health because it contains some calcium. 2009, Annemarie Colbin, Whole-food Guide to Strong Bones, New Harbinger Publications, page 233