sensitive plant

noun

Also called humble plant. a tropical American plant, Mimosa pudica, cultivated in greenhouses, having bipinnate leaves whose leaflets fold together when touched.

any of various other plants that are sensitive to touch.

Nearby words

sensible horizon, sensible perspiration, sensillum, sensitive, sensitive fern, sensitive plant, sensitiveness, sensitivity, sensitivity group, sensitivity training, sensitization

Origin of sensitive plant

First recorded in 1650–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sensitive plant

The Sensitive-plant (Mimosa pudica) is a familiar example of this genus.
Botany for Ladies|Jane Loudon
In short, when you pressed this sensitive-plant, it always contracted its dimensions.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. III. (of 12)|Edmund Burke
Directly any one touches you, you shrivel up like a sensitive-plant.
The Duel|A. I. Kuprin
Mimosas will presently make a sensitive-plant of him who hangs his hammock beneath their shade.
Mount Rainier|Various

The sensitive-plant grows wild about the compound, and bears a very pink flower resembling that of the red cloves.
A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India|Charles Acland

British Dictionary definitions for sensitive plant

sensitive plant

noun

a tropical American mimosa plant, Mimosa pudica, the leaflets and stems of which fold if touched

any similar plant, such as the leguminous plant Cassia nictitans of E North America

informal a person who is easily upset

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