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Christmas cactus

American

noun

a cactus, Schlumbergera bridgesii (orZygocactus bridgesii ), native to Brazil, having stems with leaflike segments and showy, purplish-red flowers, and often cultivated as a houseplant.

Christmas cactus British

noun

a Brazilian cactus, Schlumbergera (formerly Zygocactus ) truncatus, widely cultivated as an ornamental for its showy red flowers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Christmas cactus

First recorded in 1895–1900

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:

Christmas cactus

For years, my apartment has contained a single Christmas cactus that I'm explicitly not permitted to tend.

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2023

She has cacti, jade, a Christmas cactus, a rubber tree.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2021

But one day, amid complaints, she said: “I get my joy out of my plants, I really do. My Christmas cactus has four or five flowers.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2021

Oh, by gosh, by golly: In L.A., a Christmas cactus is a real thing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2018

I pushed my bladder aside and went straight for the Christmas cactus on a metal shelf with a dozen other plants.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023