candytuft

[ kan-dee-tuhft ]

/ ˈkæn diˌtʌft /

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noun

a plant of the genus Iberis, of the mustard family, especially I. umbellata, an ornamental plant with tufted pink, violet, purple, or red flowers, originally from the island of Crete.

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Origin of candytuft

1570–80; Candy (variant of Candia) + tuft

Words nearby candytuft

candy roaster, candy store, candy stripe, candy-striped, candy striper, candytuft, cane, Canea, canebrake, cane chair, canecutter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use candytuft in a sentence

In using Candytuft for edging, set the plants about a foot apart.
Amateur Gardencraft|Eben E. Rexford
One of our best flowering plants for edging purposes is Candytuft.
Amateur Gardencraft|Eben E. Rexford
Sow in front of the Cornflowers, at the same time, a row of white Candytuft, of the Empress variety.
A Woman's Hardy Garden|Helena Rutherfurd Ely
(alluding to Monica, for whose hand Candytuft was about to ask).
John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1|William Powell Frith

Another snowy white flower is the perennial candytuft, Iberis.
Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916|Various

British Dictionary definitions for candytuft

candytuft

/ (ˈkændɪˌtʌft) /

noun

either of two species of Iberis grown as annual garden plants for their umbels ("tufts") of white, red, or purplish flowersSee iberis

Word Origin for candytuft

C17: from Candy, obsolete variant of Candia (Crete) + tuft

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012