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.
Yet in color it is as rich an orange as the petal of the cardinal flower is a rich scarlet.
From Under the Maples by Burroughs, John
The cardinal flower is the only flower more gaudy in red than this bee balm.
From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Shaw, Ellen Eddy
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 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
One very common flower resembles our cardinal flower, though not of so deep a color, another is very like rocket or phlox, but smaller and of various colors, white, blue and purple.
From Summer on the Lakes, in 1843 by Fuller, Margaret
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.
