Also called: ling. heath. a low-growing evergreen Eurasian ericaceous shrub, Calluna vulgaris, that grows in dense masses on open ground and has clusters of small bell-shaped typically pinkish-purple flowers
any of certain similar plants
a purplish-red to pinkish-purple colour
of a heather colour
of or relating to interwoven yarns of mixed colours
heather mixture
1300–50; spelling variant of hether, earlier hedder, hadder, hather, Middle English hathir; akin to heath
Heather is a hearty flowering plant that's common in many parts of the world but most famous for growing in the Scottish Highlands. Heather grows in low, dense mats, often in soil that's wet, acidic, or otherwise inhospitable. In Scotland, millions of acres are carpeted in colorful heather, and the country is closely associated with the plant. The Old English root of heather is hæddre, and the word was mainly used in Scots until the 16th century. As a girl's name, Heather was extremely rare until the 1930s, and its popularity exploded in the 1970s and 80s.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Greiff points out baby heather plants nearby now able to grow in gaps left by decayed moss.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
One imagines not the ghost of Cathy or Heathcliff, but a trio of women, very much alive and striding through the heather, their minds alight with the stories they would tell, set among similar terrain.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Only decades ago many of the cottages in Scotland’s Highlands were roofed in heather, bracken and marram grass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
While the main purpose is to encourage new heather growth for grouse and other animals to feed on, it also gets rid of excess vegetation which can fuel wildfires.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2025
He flung himself down in- the heather and began to cry in earnest—he did not know why.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Dr. Heather Rogers, a dermatologist in Seattle and founder of the Doctor Rogers skincare line, told me that there are few modern scientific studies examining beef tallow as a skincare ingredient.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Begin with simple, basic questions that are caring, genuinely curious and not intrusive, says Heather Winslow‑Walker, director of Truist Bank’s Center for Family Legacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“It’s still tough for middle-class and moderate-income Americans,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Bouchier wafted unnecessarily outside the off stump, Heather Knight played around a straight one from Sayali Satghare for six and Jones suffered a lapse in concentration to prod spinner Sneh Rana to short leg.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
"Maybe she took Hollywood Heather to get even."
From "Sleepover Sleuths: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #1" by Carolyn Keene
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.
