sensitive plant


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

  2. any of various other plants that are sensitive to touch.

Origin of sensitive plant

1
First recorded in 1650–60

Words Nearby sensitive plant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sensitive plant in a sentence

  • I have steamed the other plants, and made the sensitive plant very sensitive, and shall soon try some experiments on it.

  • One of the most curious things in vegetation which strikes our English eyes is the extraordinary abundance of the sensitive plant.

    A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' | Annie Allnut Brassey

British Dictionary definitions for sensitive plant

sensitive plant

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

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

  1. 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