sundew

[suhn-doo, -dyoo]

noun

any of several small, carnivorous bog plants of the genus Drosera, having sticky hairs that trap insects.

Origin of sundew

1570–80; < Dutch sondauw (compare German Sonnentau), translation of Latin rōs sōlis dew of the sun

Also called dew plant, rosa solis.

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

Examples from the Web for sundew

Historical Examples of sundew

In a small marsh near the end of the garden were some plants of the sundew.
The Swan and Her Crew
George Christopher Davies
The member of this species best known to British botanists is the sundew.
The Little Gleaner, Vol. X.
Various
Again, the mossy bog may glisten in the sun, and thousands of sundew plants with their pink leaves are growing upon the surface.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, November 1899
Various
No little creature of tender wing ever touches a sundew except under penalty of death.
Lancashire
Leo H. (Leo Hartley) Grindon
One might see the same spirit in his way of speaking of Sundew, earthworms, &c.
Charles Darwin: His Life in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters
Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for sundew

sundew

noun

any of several bog plants of the genus Drosera, having leaves covered with sticky hairs that trap and digest insects: family Droseraceae

Word Origin for sundew

C16: translation of Latin ros solis

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