snowdrop
Americannoun
-
snowdrops
plural
noun
Usage
What does snowdrop mean? A snowdrop is a small, fragrant, white, bell-shaped flower with green markings. The name snowdrop is also used for any plant in the genus Galanthus. The different members of the genus Galanthus vary in size. The scientific name of the common snowdrop flower is Galanthus nivalis. Snowdrops are known for blooming in early spring. They are popularly cultivated for use in bouquets. The snowdrop is one of the January birth flowers (a flower that’s associated with a particular month in the same way as a birthstone). Example: Look at all the snowdrops blooming in the meadow.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of snowdrop
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.
See Examples For:
Certain species such as cow parsley, yarrow and knapweed are in fact spreading, and he welcomes an influx of non-native plants and "garden escapes", such as snowdrop and buddleia.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
Claire Michelle, a snowdrop donor, said: “A snowdrop donor is someone who donates milk after the death of their baby,” she said.
From BBC ● May 27, 2024
We sow a first flat of seeds; we gently rake debris from a bed to make way for a winter aconite or snowdrop to poke through and cheer us.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
A voice comes to a snowdrop and says, you have to leave, a storm is coming.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2021
It was a snowdrop made of green glass and white glass, cunningly fashioned: it seemed as if it had been plucked from the meadow grass that very morning, and the dew was still upon it.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
They wanted the law changed by the time the snowdrops bloomed the following spring.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
A carpet of snowdrops at an estate which plays host to The Great British Bake Off's famous white tent have been gobbled up by an horde of slugs.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2024
Woodland natives, snowdrops prefer light shade and well-drained soil that doesn’t completely dry out in summer.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2022
But the experience of that peculiar solitude, so filled with company, always feels as fresh as the sight of those brave snowdrops reaching for the sun.
From New York Times ● May 27, 2022
On a bank below the lawns, crocuses were planted, golden, pink, and mauve, but by this time they would be past their best, dropping and fading, like the pallid snowdrops.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
