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speedwell

[speed-wel]
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noun
  1. any of several plants, shrubs, or small trees of the genus Veronica, of the figwort family, having opposite leaves and small flowers.
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Origin of speedwell

1570–80; speed + well1; so called because its petals fade and fall early
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for speedwell

Historical Examples

  • The Speedwell had been forced to put back in a disabled condition.

    The Nation in a Nutshell

    George Makepeace Towle

  • The Goodhope and the Speedwell, he found, had gone back to Gram.

    Space Viking

    Henry Beam Piper

  • They secured for their voyage two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower.

    The Landing of the Pilgrims

    Henry Fisk Carlton

  • All boys who love to be on the go will welcome the Speedwell boys.

  • She had returned to her old ally, Arthur Payne, who designed her the Speedwell.

British Dictionary definitions for speedwell

speedwell

noun
  1. any of various temperate scrophulariaceous plants of the genus Veronica, such as V. officinalis (heath speedwell) and V. chamaedrys (germander speedwell), having small blue or pinkish white flowers
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Word Origin

C16: from speed + well 1
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