botanize
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to study plants or plant life.
-
to collect plants for scientific study.
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr) to collect or study plants
-
(tr) to explore and study the plants in (an area or region)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of botanize
1760–70; < New Latin botanizāre < Greek botanízein to gather plants. See botanist, -ize
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:
She liked to botanize, collecting specimens of plants along the route.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 2, 2017
I botanize, and read some, but cook "heaps" more.
From History of the Donner Party, a Tragedy of the Sierra by McGlashan, C. F. (Charles Fayette)
We will not "peep and botanize" on sacred soil, nor submit our most refined delights to the impertinences of critical analysis.
From Collections and Recollections by Russell, George William Erskine
Such a writer can, indeed, peep and botanize on the grave of Mother Nature, but never evoke her spirit.
From Algonquin Legends of New England by Leland, Charles Godfrey
It appeared that Ponsonby had landed with a surveying party from the ship, one morning in January, on the Patagonian side of the Straits, and set out to botanize while his companions worked.
From Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 5, June 1905 by Various
While visiting Paris in 1738 Linnaeus met and botanized with the two botanists whose "natural method" of classification was later to supplant his own "artificial system."
From A History of Science — Volume 2 by Williams, Henry Smith
I have never fished nor botanized here, but I have been a-birding many times.
From Roof and Meadow by Sharp, Dallas Lore
On we came, to the top of the Great Schiedich, where H. and W. botanized, while I slept.
From Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, Volume 2 by Stowe, Harriet Beecher
He also sketched, and botanized with the Poet.
From Tennyson and His Friends by Various
She botanized, fished, and shot, unheeding her secret admirer.
From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by Grant, James, archaeologist
Gardeners will savor stories of 19th century botanizing and appreciate Hosack’s quest to save a garden, the most ephemeral of treasures, for posterity.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 16, 2018
Ray encouraged Willughby’s interests in mathematics and took him botanizing.
From Nature ● May 1, 2018
The Grand Llama being present, I want to bring you on the scene as a charming, botanizing, singing niece whom she has strangely neglected.
From Anne by Woolson, Constance Fenimore
Young and Petersen shot some brent geese; Walker saw two deer, but he was botanizing, and had no gun; others were seen by some of the men, and followed, but without success.
From In the Arctic Seas A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions by McClintock, Francis Leopold
It was by no means the first time his passion for botanizing had been called a craze.
From Harper's Young People, September 28, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly by Various
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.
