flax

American  

[flaks] / flæks /

noun

1. any plant of the genus Linum, especially L. usitatissimum, a slender, erect, annual plant having narrow, lance-shaped leaves and blue flowers, cultivated for its fiber and seeds.

2. the fiber of this plant, manufactured into linen yarn for thread or woven fabrics.

3. any of various plants resembling flax.

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flax British  

/ flæks /

noun

1. any herbaceous plant or shrub of the genus Linum , esp L. usitatissimum , which has blue flowers and is cultivated for its seeds (flaxseed) and for the fibres of its stems: family Linaceae

2. the fibre of this plant, made into thread and woven into linen fabrics

3. any of various similar plants

4. Also called: harakeke.  a swamp plant producing a fibre that is used by Māoris for decorative work, baskets, etc

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Etymology

Origin of flax

before 900; Middle English; Old English fleax; cognate with Dutch, Low German vlas, German Flachs

Example Sentences

We will never know if the flax fields took off and Shatz’s heirs prospered.

From The Wall Street Journal

The couple also spent time visiting a flax farm in County Tyrone where they were shown the modern methods being used to make linen.

From BBC

But a host of other row crops are also used as a source of oils, including cotton, corn, safflower, peanut and flax.

From Salon

Examples of food provided in the breast cancer clinical trial included peanut soba noodles, steel cut oatmeal, banana flax muffins, sweet potato enchiladas, and Mediterranean white bean soup.

From Science Daily

Over the past five years, they built a 700-acre organic farm in eastern France where they grow wheat, rye, lentils, flax, sunflowers and other crops, as well as raising cattle.

From New York Times

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