flower

American  

[flou-er] / ˈflaʊ ər /

noun

• flowers
  plural

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)

• flowers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• flowered,
  past participle,  past
• flowering
  present participle

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)

• flowers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• flowered,
  past participle,  past
• flowering
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• reflower
  verb
• flower-like
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• flowers
  plural

Participles

• flowering
  present
• flowered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• flower
  simple
• flowers
  simple
• have flowered
  perfect
• has flowered
  perfect
• am flowering
  progressive
• are flowering
  progressive
• is flowering
  progressive
• have been flowering
  perfect progressive
• has been flowering
  perfect progressive

Past

• flowered
  simple
• had flowered
  perfect
• was flowering
  progressive
• were flowering
  progressive
• had been flowering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will flower
  simple
• will have flowered
  perfect
• will be flowering
  progressive
• will have been flowering
  perfect progressive

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; see also 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

See Examples For:

flower flowers flowered flowering

But they are too strange to be memoiristic: “In the evening we flower; like strange nocturnal plants we put out our display.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Meanwhile, masked flower bearers started to appear, gravitating towards the scene of the incident and laying vibrant bouquets at the base of what has now been dubbed the Justice Tree.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Dozens of Khan supporters gathered near the private hospital, while others flung handfuls of red flower petals at passing cars.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Bees obtain nearly all of their food from flower nectar and pollen.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

She was wearing a raincoat made of clear flower petals, but she still wore her favorite Coney Island T-shirt.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

The youngest of four children, Kusama grew up in a family that farmed its vast land holdings and sold seeds for fruits, vegetables and flowers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Her arms today are as colorful as Ruby’s notebooks: a collage of her favorite animals and objects, reproductions of her drawings, flowers in the shape of her handprint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Fans gathered to mourn Dolly Parton in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, laying flowers at her Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

At Hampton Court, Dillamore pointed to vibrant pink flowers with bright green foliage.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Then, as if this was a totally normal thing to do, Trey shoved a handful of feathers toward me like it was the bouquet of flowers.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

A veil rested on their heads, held by a satin flowered headband.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

Glass vases with metallic finishes of unnatural blue, green and gold are drowned in palm leaf motifs, ready to be flowered.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

Each generation of banana plants had to grow for at least 12 months before researchers could test them for disease resistance and continue breeding once they flowered.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026

Cardinal Radcliffe said "pointless violence had flowered into friendship".

From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025

Behind it was a small white-haired woman in a flowered housedress.

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu

In habitats with only a small variety of flowering plants, these bees may have difficulty obtaining the appropriate balance of essential amino acids for both themselves and their developing young.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Plant a diverse range of native flowering species, and leave some areas of lawn unmown.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

They grow in both a leaf stage, when they resemble small trees, and in a rare flowering stage that may have gaps of several years or even a decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Though many refer to these plants as “flowers,” they are actually an “inflorescence,” a flowering structure containing hundreds of smaller blooms inside.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Then the buildings grow dark and a kind of decay sets in; poorer people move in as the rents fall, and small fringe businesses take the place of once flowering establishments.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

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