butter-and-eggs

American  

[buht-er-uhn-egz] / ˈbʌt ər ənˈɛgz /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. any of certain plants whose flowers are of two shades of yellow, as the toadflax, Linaria vulgaris.

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butter-and-eggs British  

noun

1. (functioning as singular) any of various plants, such as toadflax, the flowers of which are of two shades of yellow

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• butter-and-eggs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of butter-and-eggs

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

But that was changing: He pointed to butter-and-eggs, oxeye daisies, bellflowers, tufted vetch, hemp nettle, spotted jewelweed, creeping Charlie, common tansy, orange hawkweed.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2021

It is probably called "butter-and-eggs" because of the two shades of yellow.

From Woodcraft or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good by Douglas, Alan

Unlike its relative butter-and-eggs, the corolla of this toadflax is so contracted that bees cannot enter it; but by inserting their long tongues, they nevertheless manage to drain it.

From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Blanchan, Neltje

The butter-and-eggs plant, they were well aware, was as free as the clover, or the milk-weed blossoms, or any other of the wild flowers.

From The Tale of Betsy Butterfly Tuck-Me-In Tales by Bailey, Arthur Scott

Another flower of the waste places is a pretty little toad flax, or butter-and-eggs.

From Woodcraft or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good by Douglas, Alan