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definitions

sweet william

or sweet William

noun
  1. a pink, Dianthus barbatus, having clusters of small, variously colored flowers.

Origin of sweet william

First recorded in 1555–65
Also called bunch pink.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sweet william

Historical Examples of sweet william

  • She picked lavender and sweet-william and pinks, and bunched them up together.

    The Pot of Gold

    Mary E. Wilkins

  • Beside it is the mossy burial-ground, where prim old ladies walk on Sunday afternoons, with sprigs of sweet-william.

    Saint Patrick

    Heman White Chaplin

  • By his side was a basin tied up in a cotton handkerchief; in the buttonhole of his coat there was a sprig of sweet-william.

  • With this class belongs the Sweet-William (dianthus barbatus), which should be sown and treated in a like manner.

    The Garden, You, and I

    Mabel Osgood Wright

  • It feeds on the seeds of catchfly, campion, and will eat those of sweet-william and garden pinks.

British Dictionary definitions for sweet william

sweet william

noun
  1. a widely cultivated Eurasian caryophyllaceous plant, Dianthus barbatus, with flat clusters of white, pink, red, or purple 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