snow-on-the-mountain

American

[snoh-on-thuh-moun-tn, -awn-] / ˈsnoʊ ɒn ðəˈmaʊn tn, -ɔn- /

noun

a spurge, Euphorbia marginata, of the western U.S., having leaves with white margins and white petallike bracts.

snow-on-the-mountain British

noun

a North American euphorbiaceous plant, Euphorbia marginata, having white-edged leaves and showy white bracts surrounding small flowers

"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

Etymology

Origin of snow-on-the-mountain

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

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.

Fittingly, its cousin, Euphorbia marginata, grows nearby and is called snow-on-the-mountain.

From Washington Post

The wild flowers disappeared, and only in the bottom of the draws and gullies grew a few of the very toughest and hardiest: shoestring, and ironweed, and snow-on-the-mountain.

From Project Gutenberg

The pasture was flooded with light; every clump of ironweed and snow-on-the-mountain threw a long shadow, and the golden light seemed to be rippling through the curly grass like the tide racing in.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023