flow-er

Noun

flower (countable and uncountable, plural flowers)

1. A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual reproduction.
   • O Laurinella! little doſt thou wot / How fraile a flower thou doſt ſo highly prize: / Beauty's the flower, but love the flower-pot / That muſt preſerve it, els it quickly dyes.1653, William Basse, “Clio, or The First Muse; in 9 Eglogues in Honor of 9 Vertues. As It was in His Dayes Intended. [Munday. Laurinella. Eglogue. Of True and Chast Love.]”, in J[ohn] P[ayne]...
2. A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens and/or a pistil.
   • You know, Darwin studied their fertilisation, and showed that the whole structure of an ordinary orchid flower was contrived in order that moths might carry the pollen from plant to plant.1894, H. G. Wells, The Flowering of the Strange Orchid
3. A plant that bears flowers, especially a plant that is small and lacks wood.
   • We transplanted the flowers to a larger pot.
4. The stem of a flowering plant with the blossom or blossoms attached, used for decoration, as a gift, etc.
   • He always keeps a vase full of flowers in his office.
5. (uncountable, usually) Of plants, a state of bearing blooms.
   • The dogwoods are in flower this week.
6. (euphemistic, familiar) The vulva, especially the labia majora.
   • [F]or ſtill, that my virgin-flower was yet uncrop'd never once enter'd into his head, and he would have thought it idling with time and words to have queſtion'd me upon it.1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC...

See all 24 meanings of flower