weeping willow

American  

noun

weeping willows plural

1. an Asian willow, Salix babylonica, characterized by the drooping habit of its branches.

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weeping willow British  

noun

1. a hybrid willow tree, Salix alba × S. babylonica , known as S. alba var. tristis , having long hanging branches: widely planted for ornament

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• weeping willows
  plural

Etymology

Origin of weeping willow

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

weeping willow

I grew up in New Hampshire, where there are really old graveyards, and I just loved the oldest headstones with the winged skulls and weeping willow.

From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2022

At the entrance to the Planet Word museum in Washington, D.C., stands a remarkable sculpture designed to resemble a weeping willow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2022

About 400 metres from ground zero in Hiroshima, a weeping willow and other plants regrew from their roots.

From Nature ● Mar. 3, 2020

She is tall, with straight brown hair and long arms that dangle, a little comically, like the boughs of a weeping willow.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 14, 2015

A gust of wind blew and parted the drooping branches of the weeping willow like a curtain, and Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, overturned.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini