snowdrop

[snoh-drop]

noun

any of several early-blooming bulbous plants belonging to the genus Galanthus, of the amaryllis family, native to Eurasia, especially G. nivalis, having drooping white flowers with green markings.

Origin of snowdrop

First recorded in 1655–65; snow + drop

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for snowdrop

Contemporary Examples of snowdrop

But there were also plenty of moments when they looked like a snowdrop.
The Brontës, Ruth Rendell, and This Week’s Hot Reads: August 19, 2012
Jimmy So
August 20, 2012
The few who caught a glimpse of her in the white muslin dress “thought she looked like a snowdrop,” Barker notes.
The Brontës, Ruth Rendell, and This Week’s Hot Reads: August 19, 2012
Jimmy So
August 20, 2012

Historical Examples of snowdrop

Then the snowdrop sang a lullaby about the moss that loved the violet.
A Little Book of Profitable Tales
Eugene Field
"Let me rest upon your cheek, and I will sing you my little songs," said the snowdrop.
A Little Book of Profitable Tales
Eugene Field
Then the vine and the snowdrop wept, and the pine-tree and the fir were very sad.
A Little Book of Profitable Tales
Eugene Field
The rose is of Paradise—the snowdrop is of the striving, hoping, longing Earth.
A Dish Of Orts
George MacDonald
You look so cool—so fair—so like a snowdrop glittering with dew.
Ernest Linwood
Caroline Lee Hentz

British Dictionary definitions for snowdrop

snowdrop

noun

any of several amaryllidaceous plants of the Eurasian genus Galanthus, esp G. nivalis, having drooping white bell-shaped flowers that bloom in early spring

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

Word Origin and History for snowdrop

early flower, 1660s, from snow (n.) + drop (n.).