petunia
Americannoun
-
petunias
plural
-
any garden plant belonging to the genus Petunia, of the nightshade family, native to tropical America, having funnel-shaped flowers of various colors.
-
a deep, reddish purple.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of petunia
1815–25; < New Latin < obsolete French petun tobacco < Tupi petyn; see -ia
Vocabulary lists containing petunia
English Words Derived from Indigenous Languages of the Americas
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
For Stirling, the study required mastering a painstaking method for temporarily altering the levels of proteins of the petunia pistils to identify the signal-receptor protein interactions.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2024
Light poles are adorned with overflowing petunia baskets and “flower towers,” with 19 blooming baskets running self-contained watering and fertilizing systems.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
To give you an idea of the creativity that required, my last version included the sentence, “What the petunia was that all about?”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2020
Workers began planting about 8,000 red, white and blue petunia plants Wednesday on the state Capitol grounds.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 5, 2019
Even their scent was a perfect mix—combining the crisp freshness of a petunia with a pansy’s delicate richness, creating a cool, clean aroma that was both invigorating and calming at once.
From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff
These discoveries are helping scientists to better understand the resilience and evolutionary story of Solanaceae, or nightshades, a sprawling family of plants that includes tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, peppers, tobacco and petunias.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
The scientists have already shown that several common flowers, such as periwinkles, petunias, and roses can be made to glow.
From NewsForKids.net ● Jan. 19, 2024
Stars, planets, people and petunias: everything emits a special kind of radiation and will, if it sticks around long enough, evaporate into nothing.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 22, 2023
First the petunias died, he said, and then the chrysanthemums, marigolds and geraniums.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2022
"Well, then," Hannah complained, "that Shetland pony is eating my petunias."
From "Pony Problems: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #3" by Carolyn Keene
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.
