ivy
noun
a climbing vine, Hedera helix, having smooth, shiny, evergreen leaves, small, yellowish flowers, and black berries, grown as an ornamental.
ivy
1 American
[ahy-vee]
/ ˈaɪ vi /
noun
-
ivies
plural
-
Also called English ivy. a climbing vine, Hedera helix, having smooth, shiny, evergreen leaves, small, yellowish flowers, and black berries, grown as an ornamental.
-
any of various other climbing or trailing plants.
adjective
-
(often initial capital letter) Ivy League.
-
New England. mountain laurel.
Ivy
2
American
[ahy-vee]
/ ˈaɪ vi /
noun
ivy
British
/ ˈaɪvɪ /
noun
-
any woody climbing or trailing araliaceous plant of the Old World genus Hedera, esp H. helix, having lobed evergreen leaves and black berry-like fruits
-
any of various other climbing or creeping plants, such as Boston ivy, poison ivy, and ground ivy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ivy
before 900; Middle English ivi; Old English ifig; akin to German Efeu
Explanation
Ivy is a plant that climbs fences and trellises, or creeps along the ground as it grows. Most ivy has dark, shiny leaves with five points. There are many types of ivy, from English ivy (which you can also grow indoors), to the true ivy's close relative, poison ivy, which is famously irritating, causing a terrible, itchy rash. Ivies are evergreen, which means they keep their green leaves in the winter. The so-called "Ivy League" is a group of eight selective colleges (including Harvard and Princeton), given this name for the ivy that creeps up many of the campuses' old brick buildings.
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:
Current treatments work reasonably well for chemical itch caused by irritants such as mosquito bites or poison ivy.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Dubbed the French Ivy House thanks to the abundance of ivy covering the stucco walls, the 3,473-square-foot layout of the star’s former dwelling features plenty of space.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
“As a temporary measure, to protect the mural artworks, Caltrans has been installing artificial ivy, which has aesthetic benefits and acts as a graffiti deterrent and is a more environmentally friendly solution to graffiti removal.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
She also recommends devil's ivy for a bathroom which will see lots of moisture, and a false caster oil plant for a shady room or hallway.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
I bet they’d have given me poison ivy if they knew about me and June.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
The power couple have three children, daughter Blue Ivy, 14, and 9-year-old twins, Rumi and Sir.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Add $100,000 onto that private-university fee for an Ivy League school.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The latter played Casey, a student with Ivy League ambitions whose interest in physics brings her to the figure skating world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The students at the Ivy league university had legally hunted the bear off campus and brought it back to the dorm to process the meat, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
And when they had to do social studies group projects with three people, Josie always suggested she and Max ask Ivy.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Costa Farms, a major wholesale grower of houseplants, has a broad range of ivies designed for use indoors, though many are hardy in the Mid-Atlantic and would work as outdoor container plantings.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2017
Perhaps this is passe as well, but ivies can be grown on wire forms to produce topiaries.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2017
Consider planting akebias, climbing roses and noninvasive ivies to hide the fence and create a living wall.
From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2013
When they did go back to Shanganagh, the old place lost its sweet peace, the ivies fell, the servants left.
From Time Magazine Archive
The wall moss which blew in with the trade winds, and the semi-tropic growth of old ivies and rose-bushes, had given to these houses the seasoning of two centuries.
From The Readjustment by Will Irwin
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.
