cardinal flower

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noun

a North American plant, Lobelia cardinalis, with showy red tubular flowers in an elongated cluster.

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Also called scarlet lobelia.

Origin of cardinal flower

An Americanism dating back to 1620–30; so called from its color

Words nearby cardinal flower

Cardin, cardinal, cardinalate, cardinal beetle, cardinalfish, cardinal flower, cardinality, cardinal number, cardinal numbers, cardinal point, cardinal points

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

How to use cardinal flower in a sentence

He felt his body grow limp (like one of those high-speed films of a flower wilting).
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her very first performance onstage came at the age of 4, when she cameoed as a dancing flower in the musical Bye Bye Birdie.
Jena Malone’s Long, Strange Trip From Homelessness to Hollywood Stardom|Marlow Stern|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Light trumps darkness, hope beats despair, grace wins over sin, love defeats hate, life conquers death,” the cardinal said.
'Please Don't Die!': The Frantic Battle to Save Murdered Cops|Michael Daly|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He quotes an unnamed cardinal saying that the conclave voters knew the charges were false.
How Pope Francis Became the World’s BFF|Jason Berry|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Elisabetta Piqué, who knew Bergoglio well as a cardinal, writes in the present tense as if to convey real time passing.
How Pope Francis Became the World’s BFF|Jason Berry|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of great action is gone, like the bloom from a soiled flower.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
He thrust the Cardinal's mantle into it, and stood over the smouldering cloth, till the whole was consumed to ashes.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
Before his rencontre with Ripperda at the Cardinal's, he had penetrated all the secrets of the Altheim apartments.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
The flower stems on the American varieties are much longer than those of European tobaccos and also larger.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
The Cardinal then hinted, that Wharton had vanished on some occult mission, to circumvent the Italian investiture.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter

British Dictionary definitions for cardinal flower

cardinal flower

noun

a campanulaceous plant, Lobelia cardinalis of E North America, that has brilliant scarlet, pink, or white flowers

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