milkweed

American  

[milk-weed] / ˈmɪlkˌwid /

noun

milkweeds plural

1. any of several plants that secrete a milky juice or latex, especially those of the genus Asclepias, as A. syriaca.

2. any of various other plants having a milky juice, as certain spurges.

---

milkweed British  

/ ˈmɪlkˌwiːd /

noun

1. Also called: silkweed.  any plant of the mostly North American genus Asclepias, having milky sap and pointed pods that split open to release tufted seeds: family Asclepiadaceae See also asclepias

2. any of various other plants having milky sap

3. another name for butterfly weed

4. another name for monarch

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• milkweeds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of milkweed

First recorded in 1590–1600; milk + weed ¹

Compare meaning

How does milkweed compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• dogbane vs. milkweed

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

milkweed milkweeds

They did so because they recognized that strict prohibitions could backfire, leading landowners to destroy milkweed, a plant that monarchs need to survive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

Monarchs depend on everyday people—farmers, gardeners and city planners—planting milkweed and protecting pollinator spaces, so their recovery depends on cooperation, not coercion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

Scott is working with the Monarch Fellowship, a volunteer-driven initiative to plant pollinator flowers, to offer wildflower seeds in the fall and narrowleaf milkweed seeds and plants in the spring.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025

One of these pesticides, methoxyfenozide, was found in 96% of milkweed samples, but it is allowed to be used under current pesticide regulations because it is not toxic to bees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025

He turned to find the stand of dried milkweed stalks he’d wedged himself against a few hours before.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

“Planting milkweeds in your garden is great,” she says.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 14, 2023

“The hungry throng” that Lee-Mäder enumerates includes at least 40 insect species that “feed often or exclusively on North American milkweeds in the summer,” he writes.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2023

Goldfarb cites the example of milkweeds, the exclusive feeding plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2023

In spring they return north, laying eggs in milkweeds on the way.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2023

Humming birds hover over the milkweeds, bent on extracting not honey only, but toothsome insects from the rosy blooms.

From Sigurd Our Golden Collie and Other Comrades of the Road by Bates, Katharine Lee