ragged robin

American  

noun

1. a plant, Lychnis flos-cuculi, of the pink family, having pink or white flowers with dissected petals.

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ragged robin British  

noun

1. Also called: cuckooflower.  a caryophyllaceous plant, Lychnis floscuculi , native to Europe and Asia, that has pink or white flowers with ragged petals See also catchfly

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Etymology

Origin of ragged robin

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ragged robin

They went slowly along the foot of the bank, pushing in and out of the clumps of red campion and ragged robin.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

A jar of buttercups and fool's-parsley in the window-bottom kept her away in the meadows, where in the lush grass the moon-daisies were half-submerged, and a spray of pink ragged robin.

From The Rainbow by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)

Forget-me-nots jewelled the banks; ragged robin looked roguishly from, clumps of bushes; the scent of hay seemed to fill the world.

From Sparrows: the story of an unprotected girl by Newte, Horace W. C. (Horace Wykeham Can)

The billowy meadow-grass, the tall red sorrel, the untidy, ragged robin, all the yearly-recurring May miracles!

From Nancy by Broughton, Rhoda

The river had lazily flowed past banks gaily decorated with timid forget-me-nots and purple veitch; the ragged robin had looked roguishly from the hedge.

From Sparrows: the story of an unprotected girl by Newte, Horace W. C. (Horace Wykeham Can)