Dictionary.com
definitions

cornflower

[kawrn-flou-er]
|

noun

Also called bachelor's-button, bluebottle. a European composite plant, Centaurea cyanus, growing in grainfields, having blue to white flower heads, often cultivated as an ornamental.
Also called cornflower blue. a deep, vivid blue.
corn cockle.
strawflower(def 2).

Origin of cornflower

First recorded in 1570–80; corn1 + flower
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cornflower

Historical Examples of cornflower

  • I have mentioned some already for your garden:—Canterbury bell, cornflower and foxglove are biennials.

  • For instance, I decorated a room in soft cream, gray, yellow and cornflower blue.

  • He was wearing a bright blue tie and a cornflower in his buttonhole, and his sandy hair was sleekly brushed.

    His Family

    Ernest Poole

  • Far out in the sea the water is as blue as the petals of the cornflower, and clear as the purest glass.

    The Dust Flower

    Basil King

  • The chintz had a cornflower design that repeated all these colors.

British Dictionary definitions for cornflower

cornflower

noun

a Eurasian herbaceous plant, Centaurea cyanus, with blue, purple, pink, or white flowers, formerly a common weed in cornfields: family Asteraceae (composites)Also called: bluebottle See also bachelor's-buttons
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