dahlia
Americannoun
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any composite plant of the genus Dahlia, native to Mexico and Central America and widely cultivated for its showy, variously colored flower heads.
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the flower or tuberous root of a dahlia.
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a pale violet or amethyst color.
adjective
noun
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any herbaceous perennial plant of the Mexican genus Dahlia , having showy flowers and tuberous roots, esp any horticultural variety derived from D. pinnata : family Asteraceae (composites)
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the flower or root of any of these plants
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dahlia
1791; < New Latin, named after Anders Dahl (died 1789), Swedish botanist; see -ia
Vocabulary lists containing dahlia
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.
See Examples For:
“I didn’t want to completely lose my old self, but I wanted to let it wilt in a way,” they say, explaining how they saw themselves reflected in the dahlia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
A total eclipse of the sun is said to look like a black dahlia or a monochrome sunflower.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2024
Named for the dahlia flower whose petals bloom in concentric arrays , the dahliagram's "petals" illustrate the relative impact of different pull and push factors contributing to human behavior over time.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2023
Visitors will be able to judge and choose the new "Hero of Stonehenge" - in the 1840s, this was a new variety of dahlia.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2023
Running down the hill on the other side was the vegetable garden, the rhubarb plot, the dahlia beds.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
He said the risk of frost would pass in the south soon, allowing "frost-tender plants" such as dahlias and tomatoes to be planted outside.
From BBC ● May 1, 2025
"When I first started, there were a lot of the 'old boy gardeners', who loved dahlias, chrysanthemums, the old fashioned plants," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025
White marigolds and green onions are planted to help deter the skunks, raccoons and squirrels that like to pull out her dahlias.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2024
I reached out to a couple of local flower farmers for their best tips on growing dahlias in the Puget Sound region:
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2024
The friends drape the coffin in a white cloth and surround it with masses of flowers, dahlias and sunflowers, “yellow flowers everywhere.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
