dandelion
Americannoun
-
a weedy composite plant, Taraxacum officinale, having edible, deeply toothed or notched leaves, golden-yellow flowers, and rounded clusters of white, hairy seeds.
-
any other plant of the genus Taraxacum.
noun
-
a plant, Taraxacum officinale, native to Europe and Asia and naturalized as a weed in North America, having yellow rayed flowers and deeply notched basal leaves, which are used for salad or wine: family Asteraceae (composites)
-
any of several similar related plants
Etymology
Origin of dandelion
1505–15; < Middle French, alteration of dent de lion, literally, tooth of (a) lion, translation of Medieval Latin dēns leōnis, in allusion to the toothed leaves
Explanation
A dandelion is a plant with bright yellow flowers that's considered a weed by many people. Others enjoy adding bitter dandelion greens to their salads. While some lawn enthusiasts see dandelions as an enemy to be eradicated, they are actually in the daisy family and arguably just as pretty. After blooming, the flowers transition to seed, resulting in soft, round seed heads that you can blow into the air while making a wish. Historians believe that dandelions were brought to North America on the Mayflower and were valued for their medicinal and nutritional properties.
Vocabulary lists containing dandelion
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.
“It shows that you are self-aware enough where you can seek to clean up or repair any unfinished business,” says Sarah R. Moore, founder of Dandelion Seeds Positive Parenting, a consulting firm in Boulder, Colo.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 2, 2025
Ziata said she usually opts for the traditional and medicinal roasted dandelion root, but Teechino’s line of Dandelion tea blends are great options.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025
Dandelion, born out of a Google innovation lab in 2017, designs, installs, and maintains its own systems in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2023
He spent the flight back texting with lawyers and others at the company, frantically assessing whether Dandelion could get its money out.
From Washington Post • Mar. 13, 2023
Dandelion gained the nearest shed and went headlong between two bales of straw at the foot of a pile.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
