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• pollen
  pollen

  noun

  the fertilizing element of flowering plants, consisting of fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores, sometimes in masses.
• Pollen
  Pollen

  noun

  Daniel. 1813–96, New Zealand statesman, born in Ireland: prime minister of New Zealand (1876)

pollen

American  

[pol-uhn] / ˈpɒl ən /

noun

1. the fertilizing element of flowering plants, consisting of fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores, sometimes in masses.

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verb (used with object)

1. to pollinate.

pollen ¹ British  

/ pəˈlɪnɪk, ˈpɒlən /

noun

1. a fine powdery substance produced by the anthers of seed-bearing plants, consisting of numerous fine grains containing the male gametes

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Pollen ² British  

/ ˈpɒlən /

noun

1. Daniel. 1813–96, New Zealand statesman, born in Ireland: prime minister of New Zealand (1876)

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pollen Scientific  

/ pŏl′ən /

1. Powdery grains that contain the male reproductive cells of most plants. In gymnosperms, pollen is produced by male cones or conelike structures. In angiosperms, pollen is produced by the anthers at the end of stamens in flowers. Each pollen grain contains a generative cell, which divides into two nuclei (one of which fertilizes the egg), and a tube cell, which grows into a pollen tube to conduct the generative cell or the nuclei into the ovule. The pollen grain is the male gametophyte generation of seed-bearing plants. In gymnosperms, each pollen grain also contains two sterile cells (called prothallial cells), thought to be remnants of the vegetative tissue of the male gametophyte.

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pollen Cultural  

1. The male sex cells in plants. In flowering plants, pollen is produced in thin filaments in the flower called stamens. (See fertilization and pollination.)

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Discover More

When pollen is carried into the air by the wind, it frequently causes allergic reactions (see allergy) in humans.

Other Word Forms

• pollenless
  adjective
• pollenlike
  adjective
• pollinic
  adjective
• pollinical
  adjective
• unpollened
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pollen

1515–25; < New Latin, special use of Latin: fine flour, mill dust

Explanation

Pollen is the grainy stuff inside a flowering plant that makes it possible for the plant to reproduce. Insects, birds, people, and the wind help to spread pollen between plants. When pollen spreads to the female part of a plant, it germinates, or begins the process of growing a new plant. When pollen spreads like this, it's called pollination, and it's how plants reproduce. Pollen is great for plants but not so great if you have hay fever, an allergy to pollen. The first meaning of pollen was "fine flour," which is what pollen looks like.

Example Sentences

Pollen can also trigger asthma attacks and allergic reactions in people living with other respiratory conditions.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

Pollen and Isherwood’s resolution to export gave the navy of the other noisiest champion—the U.S.—the opportunity to pirate them too.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

All six were taken to Woodgreen Pets Charity in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, and are now being fostered by its behaviour and training specialist, Ciara Pollen.

From BBC • Jan. 1, 2026

One Democrat, 72-year-old Jacqueline Pollen, said she is up for the challenge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 7, 2025

Hosteen Mitchells fingers delicately sprinkled golden grains to make the figure of Pollen Boy on the mound where everything was prepared.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

Related Words

• antigen
• dander
• irritant
• ragweed