geranium
Americannoun
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geraniums
plural
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any of numerous plants of the genus Geranium, which comprises the crane's-bills.
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the wild geranium, G. maculatum, of eastern North America, having loose clusters of lavender flowers.
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Also called stork's-bill. any of various plants of the allied genus Pelargonium, native to southern Africa, having showy flowers or fragrant leaves, widely cultivated in gardens and as houseplants.
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a flower of this plant.
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a vivid red color.
noun
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any cultivated geraniaceous plant of the genus Pelargonium , having scarlet, pink, or white showy flowers See also pelargonium rose geranium lemon geranium
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any geraniaceous plant of the genus Geranium, such as cranesbill and herb Robert, having divided leaves and pink or purplish flowers
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a strong red to a moderate or strong pink colour
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of geranium
1540–50; < New Latin, for Latin geranion < Greek geránion name for various plants the fruit of which was thought to resemble a crane's bill, derivative of géranos crane; akin to Latin grūs
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.
See Examples For:
These microbes are known to contaminate white wine, causing spoilage and unpleasant odors, including nail polish remover, geranium and "mousy" odors.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2024
Ms. Wong claimed that essential oils containing lemon and geranium prevented the binding of the COVID-19 virus to human cells, and that “a lot of studies” showed oregano also worked against coronavirus.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
Their work is inspired by the stork’s bill geranium, whose seeds pop out of their pods, fly through the air, and drill into the soil with their corkscrew-shaped tails.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 15, 2023
For more than 10 years, an enormous, scented geranium has been growing in a 4-by-2-foot stock tank on our back stoop.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 6, 2022
Theresa’s geranium they moved outside, with vows to water it every single day.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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Their neighbors followed suit, and soon there were scores of street enclosures bright with tulips, daisies and geraniums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
Speaking surrounded by geraniums, he said he was happy to take any form of payment, although card was slightly easier albeit slower to process.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2025
And the plant orders that include geraniums and eucalyptus—once considered to be closely related—are in fact quite distant from each other.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 23, 2024
Plants will be nonirrigated and drought resistant: Adirondack crabapple for shade canopy, hardy geraniums for color, Point Reyes shrubs for evergreen ground cover.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 4, 2023
She peeled the roots of wild geraniums and baked them in hot coals.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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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.