oleander
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of oleander
1540–50; < Medieval Latin oleander, oliandrum, obscurely akin to Late Latin laurandrum, perhaps a conflation of Latin laurus laurel and rhododendron rhododendron
Vocabulary lists containing oleander
"How It Feels to Be Colored Me"
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 4
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Vocabulary from Readings, Unit 5
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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.
Oleandrin comes from Nerium oleander, a shrub that is deadly to humans; scientists warned the New York Times that the compound was not known to be safe.
From Slate • Dec. 11, 2025
Working at Muir on a rainy February morning, Villegas took a break near a chain-link fence where he and his crew had just cut back some overgrown oleander.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2025
He’d woken up in an oleander bush with no memory of how he’d gotten there.
From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025
Oleandrin is a poisonous substance found in the leaves of the oleander plant.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 11, 2023
They sprinted down the dirt road, Ben taking a commanding lead with every stride, until he heard Sammy trip over a stump and somersault into an oleander bush.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
