bee balm
Americannoun
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Also called Oswego tea. a wildflower, Monarda didyma, of the mint family, having thin, lance-shaped leaves and white, salmon, or intensely red flowers, growing along streams in temperate forests and widely cultivated in gardens.
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a plant, Melissa officinalis, having broad, opposite, serrated leaves and tight clusters of white, lemon-scented flowers that attract bees.
Etymology
Origin of bee balm
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
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.
My favorite way to prepare bee balm is as pesto.
From Salon • Jan. 31, 2024
Perhaps it was the scarlet bee balm that drew hummingbirds in darting, whirring droves.
From New York Times • Dec. 14, 2022
In addition to mint, stem cuttings of coleus, salvia, bee balm and catnip, all members of the vast mint family, are satisfying for beginning propagators.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 12, 2022
“I told him I wanted flowers every day of the year,” vanEngelsdorp said, but mainly what he insisted on were native plants: spiderwort, aster, bee balm.
From Washington Post • May 22, 2020
A very gay flower, intensely red, is the bee balm.
From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Shaw, Ellen Eddy
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.
