arabis

American  

[ar-uh-bis] / ˈær ə bɪs /

noun

1. any plant of the genus Arabis, including the rock cresses.

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arabis British  

/ ˈærəbɪs /

noun

1. Also called: rock cress.  any plant of the annual or perennial genus Arabis , some of which form low-growing mats with downy grey foliage and white flowers: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

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Etymology

Origin of arabis

1570–80; < New Latin < Greek árabis (stem arabid- ) Arabian mustard (derivative with arab-, as in Arabía Arabia, Áraps Arab, etc.); probably applied to the plant because it grows in rocky or sandy soil

Example Sentences

The white arabis also does well under similar conditions; both are useful for draping perpendicular surfaces, such as the steep side of a bank or hedge.

From Small Gardens and How to Make the Most of Them by Biddle, Violet Purton

They are specially to be found in the genera arenaria, silene, diapensia, primula, saxifraga, arabis, aubrietia, veronica, campanula, gentiana.

From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)

So, too, spinach and lettuce may be covered with blight, while the bitter spurges, the woolly-leaved arabis, and the strong-scented thyme close by are utterly untouched.

From Falling in Love With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science by Allen, Grant

They walked up and down the platform, by the side of which the station-master's arabis and aubrietia, primroses and daffodils, were making a fine show.

From The Eldest Son by Marshall, Archibald

A tall, top-hatted figure, enfolded in long, shaggy gray frieze coat, came up the paved yard toward them between clouds of arabis.

From Boy Woodburn A Story of the Sussex Downs by Ollivant, Alfred