blossom
noun
the flower of a plant, especially of one producing an edible fruit.
blossom
1 American
[blos-uhm]
/ ˈblɒs əm /
noun
Botany.
-
blossoms
plural
-
the flower of a plant, especially of one producing an edible fruit.
-
the state of flowering.
The apple tree is in blossom.
verb (used without object)
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blossoms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blossomed,
past participle, past
-
blossoming
present participle
Blossom
2
American
[blos-uhm]
/ ˈblɒs əm /
noun
blossom
British
/ ˈblɒsəm /
noun
-
the flower or flowers of a plant, esp conspicuous flowers producing edible fruit
-
the time or period of flowering (esp in the phrases in blossom, in full blossom )
verb
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(of plants) to come into flower
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to develop or come to a promising stage
youth had blossomed into maturity
Usage
What does blossom mean? In botany, a blossom is the flower of a plant, normally in its early stages and often referring to a flower that becomes edible fruit, such as apple and cherry blossoms. In botanical terms, a blossom is a flower that is attached to an edible fruit, such as a tomato blossom, or plant that is known for a product that is not the flower, like a cactus. Blossom also refers to the state of flowering, as in Washington, DC, looks lovely when all the cherry trees are in blossom. To blossom means to produce blossoms. When a plant is blossoming, it has produced flower buds that are in the process of producing petals and opening. Figuratively, to blossom means to flourish or to begin to succeed or develop. If someone tells you that you are blossoming into a good student, they mean you are getting better at your schoolwork or completing your schoolwork. Example: The cherry blossoms unfolding are always the best part of April.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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blossomingnoun
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outblossomverb (used with object)
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reblossomverb (used without object)
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blossomlessadjective
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blossomyadjective
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unblossomedadjective
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unblossomingadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
blossomsimple
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blossomssimple
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have blossomedperfect
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has blossomedperfect
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am blossomingprogressive
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are blossomingprogressive
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is blossomingprogressive
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have been blossomingperfect progressive
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has been blossomingperfect progressive
Past
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blossomedsimple
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had blossomedperfect
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was blossomingprogressive
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were blossomingprogressive
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had been blossomingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blossom
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun blosme, blossem, Old English blōstm(a), blōsma “flower”; cognate with Middle Dutch bloesem, Middle Low German blosem, blossem; see bloom 1, blow 3
Explanation
The flowering part of a plant or tree that will form the seeds or fruit is called a blossom and synonyms include bloom and flower. The noun can also refer to the state of such flowering. You shouldn't miss cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C. As a verb, blossom means to produce flowers. Your favorite time of year may be spring, when all the trees blossom and the air is perfumed with their scent. The verb blossom also means to begin to flourish and develop. If you are a teenager, you might be waiting to blossom and feel confident in your personality and grow into your gangly limbs.
Vocabulary lists containing blossom
The Vernal Vocabulary of Spring
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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"The Song of Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats
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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:
Instead, she’s tinkering with the idea that Chicago might be her second city, a place where her artistic talents can fully blossom in a smaller market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
"There's a lack of understanding on how they should behave... on how they could help their child to blossom into the athlete that they should become."
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Inevitable as Funches’ dismissal was, witnessing the quiet camaraderie blossom between him and Rausch was one of the kindest, warmest subplots of an especially ruthless season.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
You hate her, just as you love the fragile Patience, whose success in cracking cases has caused her to blossom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Death was in the wind coaxing a flower to blossom.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
Fargo first appeared around the site in October, Blossom said.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Blossom said she had been searching for Fargo's owners, attaching a paper collar to him.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
The founder and chief executive of AI health startup Blossom was tired of moving around.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
But even as their stories sparked a public outcry about AI ethics, AFP saw that "The Peach Blossom Hairpin" kept running for days before its removal, with the disputed characters quietly replaced.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
Dick, however, was choosy, and in bars his usual choice was an Orange Blossom.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Inspired by the transient beauty of cherry blossoms, known in Japan as sakura — which is illustrated in their album cover, alongside a dark pegasus — much of the LP also hinges on melodrama.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
"Cherry blossoms there are in flower now with the main spectacular rhododendron display to follow."
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
With G&T, dinners showcase Dorset’s homegrown ingredients at their best: delicate hand-dived scallops from Lyme Bay, organic salads scattered with edible flowers, puddings as light as cherry blossoms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
"Just as cherry blossoms bloom when spring approaches, the Miyako Odori is a spring tradition in Kyoto," Kyoko Sugiura, head of the Yasaka Nyokoba Gakuen, a school for geishas in Kyoto's Gion district, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
I really was starting to like Arizona—the constant sunshine, the smell of orange blossoms in the air, the soft green grass I walked on barefoot whenever I could.
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
It’s as if they blossomed for us out of gratitude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
A notion that blossomed from an idealistic vision was Martinized into a cult-like excursion for the privileged.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
The intervening works offer a survey of how the timid painter in the first work blossomed into the assured artist in the second.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Henderson blossomed in six years under the tutelage of Carlisle's coaching staff and Manchester United signed him in 2015 at the age of 14.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
The uncertainty she’d felt last night had blossomed into a sure distance she couldn’t ignore.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
As winter gave way to spring, I tracked the almost hourly change in blossoming trees beyond the fences, grateful to see the physical manifestation of new beginnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Hunter Bell is blossoming later in her career.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Ji-Na and Fatima’s love story — its blossoming, its unraveling, its possible resuscitation — forms the heart of “The Little Sister,” which also received the Queer Palm at Cannes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Seeing themselves through her eyes has created a blossoming self-hatred: “Our room? Is sordid and bare and mean. Minimalist, she calls it,” Solange says glumly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
He tried to point this out to Ron, but Ron was having trouble with his wand again; large purple bubbles were blossoming out of the end, and he wasn’t much interested in anything else.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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.
