pollen
the fertilizing element of flowering plants, consisting of fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores, sometimes in masses.
to pollinate.
Origin of pollen
1Other words from pollen
- pol·len·less, adjective
- pol·len·like, adjective
- pol·lin·ic [puh-lin-ik], /pəˈlɪn ɪk/, pol·lin·i·cal, adjective
- un·pol·lened, adjective
Words Nearby pollen
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pollen in a sentence
It might give new bee colonies the protein-rich pollen they need to feed their young.
Here’s the summer science you might have missed | Janet Raloff | September 1, 2020 | Science News For StudentsThat’s in contrast to honeybees, which collect plant pollen as protein.
What you need to know about ‘murder hornets’ | Susan Milius | July 20, 2020 | Science News For StudentsScientists who study ancient plants and pollen helped identify other plant features.
Fossil stomach reveals a dinosaur’s last meal | Carolyn Wilke | July 7, 2020 | Science News For StudentsThese tests, too, linked pollen shortage and increased leaf biting.
Bumblebees may bite leaves to spur plant blooming | Susan Milius | July 2, 2020 | Science News For StudentsWhen trying to start colonies in early spring, the bees rely on flower pollen as a protein source to feed their young.
Bumblebees may bite leaves to spur plant blooming | Susan Milius | July 2, 2020 | Science News For Students
Each and every one of those glorious flowers also packs pollen, the dark underside of spring.
Blame Climate Change for Your Terrible Seasonal Allergies | Kent Sepkowitz | May 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter determining that the bee pollen and mushroom broth were inedible, the “detox” quickly went downhill.
We Were Gwyneth’s GOOP Guinea Pigs | Erin Cunningham, Olivia Nuzzi | March 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Bee pollen juice looked appetizing and resembled a juice I routinely enjoy that consists of pineapple, apple, and lime.
We Were Gwyneth’s GOOP Guinea Pigs | Erin Cunningham, Olivia Nuzzi | March 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnother theory is that genetic modification may be creating pollen with less nutritional value.
All are fairly well agreed as to the irritants, pollen and dust; but what makes the patient sensitive?
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick LaidlawSome manufacturers and all British writers speak of pollen extracts as vaccines and of immunizing the patient as vaccination.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick LaidlawIf injected beneath the skin or rubbed into a deep scratch, the food proteins, like the pollen proteins, may be dangerous.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick LaidlawDuring the growing months of the year the air is full of pollen that is blown in everybody's eyes and nose.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick LaidlawHe is in a state of exquisite anaphylaxis and a dose of pollen injected into his blood may kill him in twenty minutes.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick Laidlaw
British Dictionary definitions for pollen (1 of 2)
/ (ˈpɒlən) /
a fine powdery substance produced by the anthers of seed-bearing plants, consisting of numerous fine grains containing the male gametes
Origin of pollen
1Derived forms of pollen
- pollinic (pəˈlɪnɪk), adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Pollen (2 of 2)
/ (ˈpɒlən) /
Daniel. 1813–96, New Zealand statesman, born in Ireland: prime minister of New Zealand (1876)
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
Scientific definitions for pollen
[ pŏl′ən ]
Powdery grains that contain the male reproductive cells of most plants. In gymnosperms, pollen is produced by male cones or conelike structures. In angiosperms, pollen is produced by the anthers at the end of stamens in flowers. Each pollen grain contains a generative cell, which divides into two nuclei (one of which fertilizes the egg), and a tube cell, which grows into a pollen tube to conduct the generative cell or the nuclei into the ovule. The pollen grain is the male gametophyte generation of seed-bearing plants. In gymnosperms, each pollen grain also contains two sterile cells (called prothallial cells), thought to be remnants of the vegetative tissue of the male gametophyte.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for pollen
The male sex cells in plants. In flowering plants, pollen is produced in thin filaments in the flower called stamens. (See fertilization and pollination.)
Notes for pollen
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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