wake-robin

[ weyk-rob-in ]

noun
  1. the cuckoopint.

  2. any of various plants belonging to the genus Trillium, native to eastern North America, of the lily family, as T. erectum, having rank-smelling purple, yellow, or white flowers.

Origin of wake-robin

1
First recorded in 1520–30

Words Nearby wake-robin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wake-robin in a sentence

  • John Burroughs's "Wake Robin" deals not with robins alone, but with birds and bird habits in general.

  • Here he came upon evidences of a meal which the rival had made upon wake-robin roots.

  • Mr. John Burroughs says his sign is the wake-robin, or trillium.

    The Spring of the Year | Dallas Lore Sharp
  • It was published in 1867, preceding "wake-robin" by four years.

  • Mr. Burroughs, in wake-robin, mentions having found two nests, and gives us to understand that he saw only the female birds.

    The Foot-path Way | Bradford Torrey

British Dictionary definitions for wake-robin

wake-robin

noun
  1. any of various North American herbaceous plants of the genus Trillium, such as T. grandiflorum, having a whorl of three leaves and three-petalled solitary flowers: family Trilliaceae

  2. US any of various aroid plants, esp the cuckoopint

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