adder's-tongue
Americannoun
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a fern of the genus Ophioglossum, having one or sometimes two sterile leaves and a fruiting spike.
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any of several American dogtooth violets.
noun
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any of several terrestrial ferns of the genus Ophioglossum, esp O. vulgatum, that grow in the N hemisphere and have a spore-bearing body that sticks out like a spike from the leaf: family Ophioglossaceae
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another name for dogtooth violet
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.
As for the least adder's-tongue fern, it can still be found growing on St Agnes, Rosemary visited recently when the local wildlife trust organised a special trip for her.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2024
She eventually struck gold, discovering dozens of the rare ferns - called the least adder's-tongue fern - growing on a small patch of heath land.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2024
The current record-holder for most base pairs — 149 billion — is a flowering plant with the scientific name Paris japonica; the record-holder for most chromosomes — 1,440 — is the adder’s-tongue fern.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2022
And one tall yellow flower was called a dogtooth violet but was different and was really an adder’s-tongue.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
In the damp hollows the ground was carpeted with the rich, mottled green leaves and tawny yellow bells of the adder's-tongue, and the wet mud was sweet with the dainty, short-stemmed white violets.
From The Jonathan Papers by Morris, Elisabeth Woodbridge
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.
