morning glory

or morning-glory

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noun

any of various plants, especially of the genera Ipomoea and Convolvulus, as I. purpurea, a twining plant having cordate leaves and funnel-shaped flowers of various colors, often opening only in the morning.

a racehorse that runs faster in morning workouts than in afternoon races.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of morning glory

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use morning glory in a sentence

A morning-glory vine hanging from a guy wire stirs, like a heavy curtain, in the cool morning breeze.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis|Stanley Booth|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On their pretty bamboo trellises the potted morning-glory vines held out flowers as yet unopened.
The Dragon Painter|Mary McNeil Fenollosa
The poor little Morning-glory was so lonely and sad it was ready to promise anything to get off the ground.
Sandman's Goodnight Stories|Abbie Phillips Walker
Your morning-glory tenderness would droop before the fierceness of my pain, it would die in my hot grasp!
Rutledge|Miriam Coles Harris

See my morning-glory seed, like quarters of a little black apple, and how tiny my pansy seeds are!
A Little Garden Calendar for Boys and Girls|Albert Bigelow Paine
It is really about a first cousin, and useful drugs are made from the juice and root of a wild morning-glory.
A Little Garden Calendar for Boys and Girls|Albert Bigelow Paine

British Dictionary definitions for morning glory

morning-glory

noun plural -ries

any of various mainly tropical convolvulaceous plants of the genus Ipomoea and related genera, with trumpet-shaped blue, pink, or white flowers, which close in late afternoon

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