sunflower
Americannoun
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sunflowers
plural
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any of various composite plants of the genus Helianthus, as H. annuus, having showy, yellow-rayed flower heads often 12 inches (30 centimeters) wide, and edible seeds that yield an oil with a wide variety of uses: the state flower of Kansas.
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Also called aster. Furniture. a conventionalized flower motif carved in the center panels of a Connecticut chest.
noun
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any of several American plants of the genus Helianthus, esp H. annuus, having very tall thick stems, large flower heads with yellow rays, and seeds used as food, esp for poultry: family Asteraceae (composites) See also Jerusalem artichoke
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the oil extracted from sunflower seeds, used as a salad oil, in the manufacture of margarine, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunflower
First recorded in 1555–65; translation of Latin flōs sōlis “flower of the sun”
Vocabulary lists containing sunflower
Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Soon after Cindy’s feeder made its debut, a raccoon arrived, made himself at home on the ledge, and helped himself to some sunflower seeds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
On the bank of one of its branches, farmer Federica Vidali looked anxiously at her sunflower field.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Bad Bunny tickets, an ABC subscription and a bag of sunflower seeds.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
To start, each box contains sunflower lecithin, which is extracted from sunflower oil, a seed oil.
From Salon ● May 23, 2026
She’s toasted her hamburger bun and smeared avocado on each side, added red onions from the salad bar and what I think are sunflower seeds.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
Adams said straw, mushrooms, corn, rye and sunflowers are great bioremediators that can help to repair damage to soils.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The pictures Cooley took on Ragusa’s property were of rows of pink and purple native flowers and sunflowers set amid city lights and a dreamy sunset.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Even more surprising were the endless fields of corn, rapeseed and sunflowers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
And so the same peloton will be hurtling along the cobbles a couple of months before gliding through the sunflowers of a French summer.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
I make her eyes the color of a stormy gray sky to honor the people of Orléans, but add tiny golden sunflowers around the middles to mirror the royal chrysanthemum.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
