Also called: ling. heath. a low-growing evergreen Eurasian ericaceous shrub, Calluna vulgaris, that grows in dense masses on open ground and has clusters of small bell-shaped typically pinkish-purple flowers
any of certain similar plants
a purplish-red to pinkish-purple colour
of a heather colour
of or relating to interwoven yarns of mixed colours
heather mixture
1300–50; spelling variant of hether, earlier hedder, hadder, hather, Middle English hathir; akin to heath
Heather is a hearty flowering plant that's common in many parts of the world but most famous for growing in the Scottish Highlands. Heather grows in low, dense mats, often in soil that's wet, acidic, or otherwise inhospitable. In Scotland, millions of acres are carpeted in colorful heather, and the country is closely associated with the plant. The Old English root of heather is hæddre, and the word was mainly used in Scots until the 16th century. As a girl's name, Heather was extremely rare until the 1930s, and its popularity exploded in the 1970s and 80s.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One imagines not the ghost of Cathy or Heathcliff, but a trio of women, very much alive and striding through the heather, their minds alight with the stories they would tell, set among similar terrain.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Only decades ago many of the cottages in Scotland’s Highlands were roofed in heather, bracken and marram grass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Mr MacLennan said the "challenging" fire spready quickly through gorse and heather on the steep hillside.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
Muirburns are controlled fires set burn off old heather and other vegetation on grouse shooting estates.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2025
They lay deep in the heather and counted out the slow hours, in which there seemed little change; for they were still under the shadows of the Ephel Dúath, and the sun was veiled.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Dr. Heather Rogers, a dermatologist in Seattle and founder of the Doctor Rogers skincare line, told me that there are few modern scientific studies examining beef tallow as a skincare ingredient.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Begin with simple, basic questions that are caring, genuinely curious and not intrusive, says Heather Winslow‑Walker, director of Truist Bank’s Center for Family Legacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“It’s still tough for middle-class and moderate-income Americans,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Heather Knight will not only go down as a great of English cricket, but also one of the most important leaders in modern British sport.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Heather is squealing, holding a turquoise-colored bath bomb.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
