cardinal flower
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of cardinal flower
An Americanism dating back to 1620–30; so called from its color
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.
The handsome Great Lobelia, constantly and invidiously compared with its gorgeous sister the cardinal flower, suffers unfairly.
From Wild Flowers Worth Knowing by Blanchan, Neltje
It took a long time to pass quite round, and before this was accomplished, her footsteps were arrested by a splendid cardinal flower, that grow within the shadow of the wall.
From Janet's Love and Service by Robertson, Margaret M. (Margaret Murray)
Muriel Blake's golden curls, and azure eyes, and roseate bloom flashed on the eye much as does a cardinal flower in a wayside brook.
From Boston Neighbours In Town and Out by Poor, Agnes Blake
It is a splendid show of brilliant scarlet, the color of the cardinal flower and surpasses it in mass and profusion.
From Woodcraft or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good by Douglas, Alan
Do not imagine I made any such observations as these at the time, least of all that I then knew the cardinal flower by its correct name.
From Confessions of Boyhood by Albee, John
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.
