flower

American  

[flou-er] / ˈflaʊ ər /

noun

1. the blossom of a plant.

   She picked a bunch of flowers for her mother.

   He always wore a flower in his lapel, usually a carnation.

2. Botany.

   1. the part of a seed plant comprising the reproductive organs and their envelopes if any, especially when such envelopes are more or less conspicuous in form and color.

   2. an analogous reproductive structure in other plants, as the mosses.

3. a plant considered with reference to its blossom or cultivated for its floral beauty.

   If it doesn’t rain today, I’ll need to water the flowers in the garden.

4. an ornament or decoration representing a flower.

   She doesn’t like any fabric that has flowers on it.

   The classroom walls were decorated with cheery flowers painted by the children.

5. an ornament or adornment.

   I felt like I was being told to be just a flower, but I wanted to have input and share my ideas.

6. Also called fleuron, floret.  Printing. an ornamental piece of type, especially a stylized floral design, often used in a line to decorate chapter headings, page borders, or bindings.

7. the choicest or finest part, member, or example.

   Emigration took the flower of the nation’s youth, desperate for a better life.

   It was a love poem, calling her “the flower of humanity” and other romantic epithets.

8. the bud of the cannabis or hemp plant, or such buds collectively, secreting over 100 different cannabinoids.

   For testing purposes, you only need to bring in one cannabis flower for analysis.

   This is high-quality cannabis flower, with 12 to 18 percent THC.

9. (used with a singular verb) flowers, a substance in the form of a fine powder, especially as obtained by sublimation.

   flowers of sulfur.

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verb (used without object)

1. to produce flowers; blossom; come to full bloom.

   This shrub usually flowers in June.

2. to come into full development; mature.

   Regular air passenger service did not flower till after World War II.

   Synonyms:

   ripen, blossom, bloom, flourish, develop

verb (used with object)

1. to decorate with a floral design.

   The skirt of the dress is flowered.

2. to cover or deck with flowers.

   For the wedding photos, they flowered the church steps with roses.

idioms

1. in flower,

   1. blossoming; having open blooms.

      Peonies were in flower.

   2. in the period of finest or greatest flourishing; at the peak of development.

      English poetic drama was in flower during the reign of Elizabeth I.

flower British  

/ ˈflaʊə /

noun

1. 1. a bloom or blossom on a plant

   2. a plant that bears blooms or blossoms

2. the reproductive structure of angiosperm plants, consisting normally of stamens and carpels surrounded by petals and sepals all borne on the receptacle (one or more of these structures may be absent). In some plants it is conspicuous and brightly coloured and attracts insects or other animals for pollination

3. any similar reproductive structure in other plants

4. the prime; peak

   in the flower of his youth

5. the choice or finest product, part, or representative

   the flower of the young men

6. a decoration or embellishment

7. printing a type ornament, used with others in borders, chapter headings, etc

8. Also called: fleuron.  an embellishment or ornamental symbol depicting a flower

9. (plural) fine powder, usually produced by sublimation

   flowers of sulphur

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verb

1. (intr) to produce flowers; bloom

2. (intr) to reach full growth or maturity

3. (tr) to deck or decorate with flowers or floral designs

flower Scientific  

/ flou′ər /

1. The reproductive structure of the seed-bearing plants known as angiosperms. A flower may contain up to four whorls or arrangements of parts: carpels, stamens, petals, and sepals. The female reproductive organs consist of one or more carpels. Each carpel includes an ovary, style, and stigma. A single carpel or a group of fused carpels is sometimes called a pistil. The male reproductive parts are the stamens, made up of a filament and anther. The reproductive organs may be enclosed in an inner whorl of petals and an outer whorl of sepals. Flowers first appeared over 120 million years ago and have evolved a great diversity of forms and coloration in response to the agents that pollinate them. Some flowers produce nectar to attract animal pollinators, and these flowers are often highly adapted to specific groups of pollinators. Flowers pollinated by moths, such as species of jasmine and nicotiana, are often pale and fragrant in order to be found in the evening, while those pollinated by birds, such as fuschias, are frequently red and odorless, since birds have good vision but a less developed sense of smell. Wind-pollinated flowers, such as those of oak trees or grass, are usually drab and inconspicuous.

2. See Note at pollination

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flower Cultural  

1. The part of a plant that produces the seed. It usually contains petals, a pistil, and pollen-bearing stamens.

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Other Word Forms

• flower-like adjective
• reflower verb

Etymology

Origin of flower

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English flour “flower, best of anything,” from Old French flor, flour, flur, from Latin flōr-, stem of flōs; bloom ¹ ( def. ), flour

Explanation

If someone tells you they think you'll flower when you go to college, they don't mean they think you'll grow blossoms on your head, but that you'll really come into your own and find your potential. A flower is a fragile blossom that has petals and grows at the top of the stem of a plant. Flowers attract bees, who help out with the pollination process so more plants can grow. Roses, daisies, and carnations are all types of flowers. Flower is also a verb meaning to bring forth flowers. And if something besides a plant — a business, a person, a community — has a period of extra productivity or prosperity, we say it is flowering.

Example Sentences

One customer loved Damburger so much that his family asked after his death if they could spread some of his ashes in the restaurant’s flower beds.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

Weeping family members scattered flower petals on their graves.

From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026

In this case it refers to a pink flower in North America which blooms at this time of year.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

As bees and hummingbirds move from one flower to another, feeding on nectar while helping plants reproduce, they are also consuming something unexpected: small amounts of alcohol.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

The duct tape does nothing to hide the offensive olive-green flower pattern that’s stitched into the worn yellow velour covering her cushions and scalloped back.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• blossom
• burgeon
• mature
• prosper
• thrive
• unfold