mistletoe
Americannoun
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a European plant, Viscum album, having yellowish flowers and white berries, growing parasitically on various trees, used in Christmas decorations.
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any of several other related, similar plants, as Phoradendron serotinum, of the U.S.: the state flower of Oklahoma.
noun
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a Eurasian evergreen shrub, Viscum album, with leathery leaves, yellowish flowers, and waxy white berries: grows as a partial parasite on various trees: used as a Christmas decoration: family Viscaceae
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any of several similar and related American plants in the families Loranthaceae or Viscaceae , esp Phoradendron flavescens
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an epiphytic cactus, Rhipsalis cassytha, that grows in tropical America
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mistletoe
before 1000; Middle English mistelto, apparently back formation from Old English misteltān ( mistel mistletoe, basil + tān twig), the -n being taken as plural ending; cognate with Old Norse mistilteinn
Vocabulary lists containing mistletoe
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:
Amid the dreadful weekend, news that over 1,400 couples in Washington, D.C. broke the Guinness World Record for kissing under the mistletoe was almost swept under the rug.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
By December, she’s hanging mistletoe and sipping mulled wine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
There's also what appears to be a bunch of grapes, but archaeobotanists believe that this is a plant that grows locally - mistletoe.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2025
Adding to the family-friendly vibe, the St. Rita Cub Scout Pack showed up to sell mistletoe foraged from the nearby trails.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025
The paragraph ended at a drawing of a sprig of mistletoe, and Anya looked up at the woman.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Lectins and phoratoxins — two chemicals found in mistletoes — can “affect the heart, causing low blood pressure and slowed heart rate,” the FDA says.
From Fox News ● Dec. 11, 2018
"If I had my way there'd be mistletoes every day," sings Lane as a tom-tom beat echoes behind her and a pedal steel guitar moans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2014
This airborne parasitism is so successful that mistletoes are thought to have evolved it five separate times on their own.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 21, 2012
The most common of the higher parasitic plants damaging timber trees are mistletoes.
From The Mechanical Properties of Wood Including a Discussion of the Factors Affecting the Mechanical Properties, and Methods of Timber Testing by Record, Samuel J.
It’s still Christmas Eve, and there are other mistletoes and other manners.”
From Patty's Success by Wells, Carolyn
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.
