mistletoe
Americannoun
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a European plant, Viscum album, having yellowish flowers and white berries, growing parasitically on various trees, used in Christmas decorations.
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any of several other related, similar plants, as Phoradendron serotinum, of the U.S.: the state flower of Oklahoma.
noun
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a Eurasian evergreen shrub, Viscum album, with leathery leaves, yellowish flowers, and waxy white berries: grows as a partial parasite on various trees: used as a Christmas decoration: family Viscaceae
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any of several similar and related American plants in the families Loranthaceae or Viscaceae , esp Phoradendron flavescens
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an epiphytic cactus, Rhipsalis cassytha, that grows in tropical America
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mistletoe
before 1000; Middle English mistelto, apparently back formation from Old English misteltān ( mistel mistletoe, basil + tān twig), the -n being taken as plural ending; cognate with Old Norse mistilteinn
Vocabulary lists containing mistletoe
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:
Halloween wasn’t even over before Spotify users began curating songs about mistletoe, snow and presents under the tree.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025
Amid the dreadful weekend, news that over 1,400 couples in Washington, D.C. broke the Guinness World Record for kissing under the mistletoe was almost swept under the rug.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
The goal was identifying the moments that viewers expect from Hallmark’s pleasingly formulaic programming — the apology, the kiss under the mistletoe — and finding a way to “gamify” them, Bennett says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2024
Yet the story behind “All I Want for Christmas is You” is not all holly and mistletoe.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 10, 2023
They had already started gathering, and half a grain sack of mistletoe was still hanging against the side of the cabin.
From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong
Lectins and phoratoxins — two chemicals found in mistletoes — can “affect the heart, causing low blood pressure and slowed heart rate,” the FDA says.
From Fox News ● Dec. 11, 2018
"If I had my way there'd be mistletoes every day," sings Lane as a tom-tom beat echoes behind her and a pedal steel guitar moans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2014
This airborne parasitism is so successful that mistletoes are thought to have evolved it five separate times on their own.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 21, 2012
The dodders and mistletoes rob juices from the stem and branches of their unfortunate hosts; more numerous still are the unbidden guests that fasten themselves upon the roots of their prey.
From Little Masterpieces of Science: The Naturalist as Interpreter and Seer by Iles, George
The most common of the higher parasitic plants damaging timber trees are mistletoes.
From The Mechanical Properties of Wood Including a Discussion of the Factors Affecting the Mechanical Properties, and Methods of Timber Testing by Record, Samuel J.
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.
