arabis

American  

[ar-uh-bis] / ˈær ə bɪs /

noun

1. any plant of the genus Arabis, including the rock cresses.

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arabis British  

/ ˈærəbɪs /

noun

1. Also called: rock cress.  any plant of the annual or perennial genus Arabis , some of which form low-growing mats with downy grey foliage and white flowers: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

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Etymology

Origin of arabis

1570–80; < New Latin < Greek árabis (stem arabid- ) Arabian mustard (derivative with arab-, as in Arabía Arabia, Áraps Arab, etc.); probably applied to the plant because it grows in rocky or sandy soil

Example Sentences

Only one or two strayed sometimes to the early arabis, desultory and sad, driven home again by the frosty air to await the purple times of honey.

From Gone to Earth by Webb, Mary Gladys Meredith

The news of Goosey Gander's victory had preceded them and they drove slowly through little crowds of cheering children, between old flint cottages with tiled roofs, and gardens white with arabis and overspread with fig-trees.

From Boy Woodburn A Story of the Sussex Downs by Ollivant, Alfred

Fill in depressions with soil and plant there and around the edges of the boulder Phlox subulata, sedum, arabis, etc.

From Making A Rock Garden by Adams, H. S. (Henry Sherman)

The white arabis also does well under similar conditions; both are useful for draping perpendicular surfaces, such as the steep side of a bank or hedge.

From Small Gardens and How to Make the Most of Them by Biddle, Violet Purton

They walked up and down the platform, by the side of which the station-master's arabis and aubrietia, primroses and daffodils, were making a fine show.

From The Eldest Son by Marshall, Archibald