houseplant
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of houseplant
Explanation
A houseplant is a green, living thing you keep indoors. Your Boston fern, giant ficus, and Christmas cactus are all houseplants. If there are plants inside your house, they're houseplants, though you could also call them "potted plants" or "indoor plants." Most houseplants are tropical or semitropical, and if you live somewhere that gets colder during the winter, they need to be inside where it's warm. During the summer, some houseplants thrive on the patio or in the yard, but you'll need to bring them back into your house when the nights get cool.
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.
These included a houseplant leaf, PVC, and polystyrene, such as that found in plastic windows.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
She and her family lost their garage and part of their yard in the fire and in the weeks that followed, she made a point of purchasing a small houseplant for herself at Trader Joe’s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025
A woman left bed-bound and unable to leave the house because of long Covid has rediscovered her passion for life by setting up a houseplant business.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
Where, then, should one dispose of the holiday houseplant?
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
It was his houseplant, hopeful green leaves rising from three bamboo stems, and when she took it, a sudden crushing loneliness lanced through her and stayed with her for weeks.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
