Flower
['flaʊə] or ['flaʊɚ]
Definition
(noun.) reproductive organ of angiosperm plants especially one having showy or colorful parts.
(noun.) a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms.
(noun.) the period of greatest prosperity or productivity.
Checked by Bryant--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) In the popular sense, the bloom or blossom of a plant; the showy portion, usually of a different color, shape, and texture from the foliage.
(n.) That part of a plant destined to produce seed, and hence including one or both of the sexual organs; an organ or combination of the organs of reproduction, whether inclosed by a circle of foliar parts or not. A complete flower consists of two essential parts, the stamens and the pistil, and two floral envelopes, the corolla and callyx. In mosses the flowers consist of a few special leaves surrounding or subtending organs called archegonia. See Blossom, and Corolla.
(n.) The fairest, freshest, and choicest part of anything; as, the flower of an army, or of a family; the state or time of freshness and bloom; as, the flower of life, that is, youth.
(n.) Grain pulverized; meal; flour.
(n.) A substance in the form of a powder, especially when condensed from sublimation; as, the flowers of sulphur.
(n.) A figure of speech; an ornament of style.
(n.) Ornamental type used chiefly for borders around pages, cards, etc.
(n.) Menstrual discharges.
(v. i.) To blossom; to bloom; to expand the petals, as a plant; to produce flowers; as, this plant flowers in June.
(v. i.) To come into the finest or fairest condition.
(v. i.) To froth; to ferment gently, as new beer.
(v. i.) To come off as flowers by sublimation.
(v. t.) To embellish with flowers; to adorn with imitated flowers; as, flowered silk.
Checked by Douglas
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Blossom, bloom.[2]. Best part, finest part.[3]. Prime, early vigor.[4]. Figure, figure of speech, ornamental expression.
v. n. Blossom, bloom, be in flower, put forth flowers.
Inputed by Harvey
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Perfection, blossom, bloom, acme, pride, ornament, gem, cream
ANT:Disappointment, deformity, blot, abortion, scum, dregs, blight
Edited by Ethelred
Definition
n. a growth comprising the reproductive organs of plants: the blossom of a plant: the best of anything: the prime of life: the person or thing most distinguished: a figure of speech: ornament of style: (pl.) menstrual discharge (B.).—v.t. to adorn with figures of flowers.—v.i. to blossom: to flourish.—ns. Flow′erage a gathering of flowers; Flow′er-bell a blossom shaped like a bell; Flow′er-bud a bud with the unopened flower; Flow′er-clock a collection of flowers so arranged that the time of day is indicated by their times of opening and closing; Flow′er-de-luce the old name for the common species of iris (q.v.) or for the heraldic emblem conventionalised therefrom (see Fleur-de-lis); Flow′eret a little flower: a floret; Flow′er-head a compound flower in which all the florets are sessile on the receptacle; Flow′eriness; Flow′ering-rush a monocotyledonous plant usually reckoned under the order Alismace with large linear three-edged leaves and an umbel of rose-coloured flowers.—adjs. Flow′er-kir′tled Flow′ery-kir′tled (Milt.) dressed in robes or garlands of flowers; Flow′erless (bot.) having no flowers.—ns. Flow′er-pot a utensil in culture whereby plants are rendered portable; Flow′er-serv′ice a church service where offerings of flowers are made to be afterwards sent to hospitals; Flow′er-show an exhibition of flowers; Flow′er-stalk the stem that supports the flower.—adj. Flow′ery full of or adorned with flowers: highly embellished florid.—Flower of Jove a caryophyllaceous plant with heads of purple or scarlet flowers and leaves silky-white with hairs.
Edited by Henry
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of seeing flowers blooming in gardens, signifies pleasure and gain, if bright-hued and fresh; white denotes sadness. Withered and dead flowers, signify disappointments and gloomy situations. For a young woman to receive a bouquet of mixed flowers, foretells that she will have many admirers. To see flowers blooming in barren soil without vestage of foliage, foretells you will have some grievous experience, but your energy and cheerfulness will enable you to climb through these to prominence and happiness. ??????????``Held in slumber's soft embrace, ??????????She enters realms of flowery grace, ??????????Where tender love and fond caress, ??????????Bids her awake to happiness.'' See Bouquet.
Checker: Roland
Examples
- You can no more do without it, Mr. Fairlie, than if you were a flower. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Besides, is it not a shame, that the genius of Adrian should fade from the earth like a flower in an untrod mountain-path, fruitless? Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- He deserved it all--all labour, all devotion, all sacrifice; I would have toiled up a scaleless Alp, to pluck a flower that would please him. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- She admires a flower (pink camellia japonica, price half-a-crown), in my button-hole. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- It will be a very fine object from many parts of the park, and the flower-garden will slope down just before it, and be exceedingly pretty. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- So cold, so fresh, so sea-clear her face was, it was like kissing a flower that grows near the surf. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- I am imperfectly consoled for this disappointment by the sacred pledge, the perished flower. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- She had always a new bonnet on, and flowers bloomed perpetually in it, or else magnificent curling ostrich feathers, soft and snowy as camellias. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- And besides, look at elder-flowers and bluebells--they are a sign that pure creation takes place--even the butterfly. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The influence of the fresh air, and the attraction of some flowers gathered from a grave, soon quieted the child. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I find there are two flowers where I thought there was only one. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I am pleased you like flowers, observed the Rector, looking at the joyous figure before him, which was bathed in sunshine; 'tis an innocent pleasure. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The hard, bitter feeling was getting pretty bad, when the maid brought in a box of flowers. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- They lighted up Rebecca's figure to admiration, as she sat on a sofa covered with a pattern of gaudy flowers. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Habit is hereditary with plants, as in the period of flowering, in the time of sleep, in the amount of rain requisite for seeds to germinate, etc. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- But there existed as yet no grass, no small flowering plants, no turf nor greensward. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Changed habits produce an inherited effect as in the period of the flowering of plants when transported from one climate to another. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Those who did that are the last flowering of what their education has produced. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- It doesn't allow any possibility of flowering. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- More than half of the flowering plants are native, and the species of the different isla nds show wonderful differences. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Tall clumps of flowering plants were grouped against a background of dark foliage in the angles of the walls. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- From the coast inland, stretch, between flowered lanes and hedges, rolling pasture-lands of rich green made all the more vivid by th e deep reddish tint of the ploughed fields. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Every cover was taken off, and the apartment blazed forth in yellow silk damask and a brilliantly-flowered carpet. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Monsieur Isidor disappeared into his master's adjacent bedroom, bearing off the flowered dressing-gown. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- A few forget-me-nots flowered by the water. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- On the walls hung two maps; in the windows flowered a few hardy plants; in short, here was a miniature classe--complete, neat, pleasant. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
Edited by Harold