sweet pea

American  

noun

1. a climbing plant, Lathyrus odoratus, of the legume family, having sweet-scented flowers.

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sweet pea British  

noun

1. a climbing leguminous plant, Lathyrus odoratus, of S Europe, widely cultivated for its butterfly-shaped fragrant flowers of delicate pastel colours

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Etymology

Origin of sweet pea

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sweet pea

I pass through fragrant California sagebrush and wild fennel in one spot, a blend of sweet pea, lilac and kicked-up dirt in another.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2024

A grandmother’s favorite sweet pea, a tree planted to honor a baby’s birth or in memory of a loved one, carry heartfelt sentiment and strengthen generational connections.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

Others described cravings: “Goulash soup and sweet pea soup.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2022

In the year that followed, he made dozens of sentences at a painstaking rate of about one character per minute: “Goulash soup and sweet pea soup.”

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 22, 2022

He was indeed poisoned, but the plant that killed him wasn’t wild sweet pea.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer