honeysuckle

American  

[huhn-ee-suhk-uhl] / ˈhʌn iˌsʌk əl /

noun

• honeysuckles
  plural

1. any of numerous North American and Eurasian shrubs or twining vines of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae), many species of which are hardy climbers known for their highly fragrant tubular flowers, especially those of genus Lonicera.

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honeysuckle British  

/ ˈhʌnɪˌsʌkəl /

noun

1. any temperate caprifoliaceous shrub or vine of the genus Lonicera: cultivated for their fragrant white, yellow, or pink tubular flowers

2. any of several similar plants

3. any of various Australian trees or shrubs of the genus Banksia, having flowers in dense spikes: family Proteaceae

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Usage

What is honeysuckle? Honeysuckle is a climbing or upright shrub with fragrant white, yellow, pink, or red tubular flowers. This flower can also be called a honeysuckle. They are known for having a sweet drop of nectar that you can get by pulling the stamen out of the base of the flower blossom. However, other parts of the plant can be toxic if ingested. There are many different species of honeysuckle, including Diervilla lonicera and Lonicera periclymenum. Any species in the genus Lornicera can be called honeysuckle. Names for some varieties of honeysuckle include woodbine and common honeysuckle. The honeysuckle is one of the June birth flowers (a flower that’s associated with a particular month in the same way as a birthstone). Example: The kids made a bouquet of wild honeysuckle flowers that they found in the woods.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• honeysuckled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• honeysuckles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of honeysuckle

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English honisoukel, equivalent to honisouke + -el; see honey, suck, -le

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

honeysuckle honeysuckles

The dispersed woodlands of western Illinois, where I now live, are filled with many of the plants you’d expect: oaks, bluebells and honeysuckle.

From Salon ● May 27, 2025

Orchard Hills’ zone is filled with prickly pear cacti, Japanese honeysuckle and Formosa firethorn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2025

You can taste the grassy honeysuckle and anise flavors of the sugar cane in the piloncillo because it’s made by hand without industrial processing, she said, adding that the chocolatería prefers it to regular sugar.

From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2024

"When it gets to the stage where it's out of control like honeysuckle, you get to a breaking point where it's just infeasible to deal with it."

From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2023

Throughout the village, the pungent smells of goat stew and peanut soup, along with waves of papaya and honeysuckle that wafted through the air, made Amari feel hungry as well as excited.

From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper

Ross Gay, a great poet of mirth, reminds us of the aromatic joys of honeysuckles, which only “the sad call a weed.”

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2021

McCleary typically paints them not much differently from those hearty limes or snowberry honeysuckles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2018

"It's very grim now, but the house - the walls, the courtyard, the plants, honeysuckles and one jasmine tree - it's still there."

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2017

Goats are most useful in eradicating young bush honeysuckles, munching them before they can grow into hearty shrubs that can grow 15 to 20 feet tall.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 20, 2017

But today she smells fresh, like honeysuckles and soap.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman