butterwort

American  

[buht-er-wurt, -wawrt] / ˈbʌt ərˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

1. any small, carnivorous plant of the genus Pinguicula, having leaves that secrete a viscid substance in which small insects are caught.

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butterwort British  

/ ˈbʌtəˌwɜːt /

noun

1. a plant of the genus Pinguicula , esp P. vulgaris , that grows in wet places and has violet-blue spurred flowers and fleshy greasy glandular leaves on which insects are trapped and digested: family Lentibulariaceae

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Etymology

Origin of butterwort

First recorded in 1590–1600; butter + wort ²

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

butterwort

By crossing a butterwort with a Venus's-flytrap, Seymour creates a new plant type, which he calls Audrey Jr. and which, it happens, feeds on human blood.

From Time Magazine Archive

The common butterwort is one of several plants which exude a sticky substance so that the leaves act like flypaper.

From Time Magazine Archive

It’s called a butterwort, and it always grows in boggy places; I wouldn’t advise you to go after one again without asking father first.”

From Milly and Olly by Mrs. Humphry Ward

The leaves of the butterwort are apt to have their margins folded inward, like a rim or hem.

From Darwiniana; Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism by Asa Gray

There is a little pink butterwort here in the bogs, which grows, too, in dear old Devonshire and Cornwall; and also in the south-west of Scotland. 

From Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley

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