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

Its unusual, almost supernatural appearance inspired its name: Thismia daemona, the "devil flower."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

Her plans for the future include getting a PhD in horticulture and developing a marketplace experience in which shoppers learn about flower preservation, as well as the origins and cultural significance of her beloved blooms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

From there it opens up, like a flower bud warming to summer, with acoustic guitar strumming, a gentle rhythm section and a gospel choir echoing with otherworldly lightness.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 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

Every pot grew some sort of herb, flower, or other plant Babulya carefully cultivated and tended to.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

For a cleaner look, Kaelen Haworth, the owner of a luxury-clothing store in Toronto, likes choosing flowers in a single color or type, not an assortment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Bumblebee Conservation Trust raised concerns that 2026 may exacerbate a declining trend in bumblebee populations as flowers wither and bees fail to forage effectively.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

"But we'll also never forget the friendship the British people showed us with an outpouring of letters and flowers from all over the country."

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Some plants and flowers are toxic to cats, especially lilies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

“There’s a bunch of purple paintbrushes,” he said, pointing at flowers that are pretty self-explanatory, I should think.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 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

"But I'm least impressed with this," she says, gesturing to a Japanese rice that has not flowered.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025

Still, at the time of the January fires, the semi-deciduous trees had not yet flowered, which likely minimized the damage they suffered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025

Even in a flowered dress, she is lost in a sea of pinstripes and gray suits, high heels and elegant short skirts, Reebok sneakers, dashing from building to building.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

Younger students have been using the outdoor classroom areas to talk and play games, while others have been watching figeater beetles and butterflies visit flowering trees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Scientists have identified a remarkable new species of leafless flowering plant growing on the forest floor of a national park in western Thailand.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

To explore this nutritional mismatch, researchers compared the essential amino acid composition of honeybee tissues with pollen collected from 99 UK flowering plant species representing 26 plant families.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

It also heralded a flowering of his career as a TV presenter and he seemed to be rarely off our screens.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

However, their hopes for that night were disappointed, for the rain returned before dusk, settling in on a northwest wind and carrying up the hill the sweet-sour smell of flowering privet from cottage hedges below.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

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