| 释义 |
▪ I. flower, n.|flaʊə(r), ˈflaʊə(r)|
Forms: 3–4 flur(e, 3–7 flour(e, 4–7 flowr(e, (4 flor, flowur, 6 flore, Sc. flouir, 7 floor), 5– flower, (8, 9 poet. flow'r). See also flour.
[ME. flour, flur, a. OF. flour, flur, flor (Fr. fleur) = Pr. flour, flor, Sp., Pg., and OIt. flor (It. fiore):—L. flōr-em, flōs, f. Aryan root *bhlō-: see blow v.2]
1. a. A complex organ in phenogamous plants, comprising a group of reproductive organs and its envelopes. In the popular use of the word, the characteristic feature of a flower is the ‘coloured’ (not green) envelope, and the term is not applied where this is absent, unless there is obvious resemblance in appearance to what is ordinarily so called. In botanical use, a flower consists normally of one or more stamens or pistils (or both), a corolla, and a calyx; but the two last are not universally present.
a1225Ancr. R. 340 Þe treou also, openeð ham & bringeð forð misliche flures. 1382Wyclif Job xiv. 2 As a flour goth out, and is totreden. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxiv. 10 Leif nor flour fynd could I nane of rew. 1594Barnfield Affect. Sheph. i. xxvi, Thou suckst the flowre till all the sweet be gone. 1672W. Hughes Flower Garden 31 Daffodils that have several Flowers on one Stalk. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 498 Like some fair flow'r the early spring supplies. 1820Byron Mar. Fal. iii. ii, As faithless leaves drop from the o'erblown flower. 1845Lindley Sch. Bot. i. (1858) 13 A flower, if complete in all its parts, consists of a calyx, a corolla, stamens, and a pistil. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 20 Flower that's full-blown tempts the butterfly.
fig.a1310in Wright Lyric P. 89 Thah thou be whyt ant bryth on ble, falewen shule thy floures. 1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 30 Cristen men..Schal no flour schewe of virtu. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 9 A foule blindnes whiche..dystroyeth the floures and the frutes of al goostly vertues. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 122 This bud of Loue..May proue a beautious Flower when next we meete. 1759Rutty Spiritual Diary (ed. 2) 140 An extract of some sweet flowers from the scriptures. 1841Trench Parables xii. (1877) 241 Righteousness, both in its root of faith and its flower of charity.
b. In Bryology, extended to denote the growth comprising the reproductive organs in mosses.
2. transf.
a. The down or feathery seeds of the dandelion and thistle. ? Obs.
1530Palsgr. 221/2 Floure of a tasyll that flyeth about all rounde, barbedieu.
†b. pl. The menstrual discharge; the menses; = catamenia. Obs. [After F. fleurs: but this is regarded by French scholars as a corruption of flueurs: see ]
c1400Rel. Ant. I. 190 A woman schal in the harme blede For stoppyng of hure flowrys. 1527Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters A iij, The same water..causeth women to have her flowres, named menstruum. 1662R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §106 It helpeth the stopping of the Flowers. 1741in Chambers Cycl. 1859Todd Cycl. Anat. V. 666/2 The French term ‘fleurs’ and the English ‘flowers’ are now fallen into disuse.
c. Anc. Chem. (pl., earlier sing. also in form flour): The pulverulent form of any substance, esp. as the result of condensation after sublimation.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. lxxx. (1495) 579 Drieng and tempryng wyth vynegre it [leed] torneth in to whyte colour of floure of leed. 1641French Distill. v. (1651) 164 Which whitenesse is partly the floures of the Nitre. 1730Swift Death & Daphne 25 Flow'r of sulphur powder'd well. 1799Med. Jrnl. I. 162 The benzoic acid, is sufficiently known by the name of flowers of benzoine. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art II. 114 These [white flakes] have been called flowers of Zinc. 1834Griffin Chem. Recreat. (ed. 3) 117 Flowers of benjamin, a substance obtained by sublimation from gum benzoin. 1854J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc., Chem. 337 Powdered sulphur is known in Commerce as flowers of sulphur.
d. Applied to various fungoid growths; a scum formed on wine, vinegar, etc. in fermentation. flowers of tan: a fungus (Fuligo) growing on tan heaps.
1548Thomas Ital. Gram., Fiocchi..flowers of wine. 1600W. Vaughan Direct. Health (1633) 128 The Cholericke humour is hot and fiery, bitter, and like unto the flowre of wine. 1668Phil. Trans. 21 Sept. 772 A somewhat moist and putrid matter..which ..is called..the Flower of this Substance [osteocolla]. 1675Charleton Myst. Vintners 151 Reserving the Froth or Flower of it, and putting the same into small Casks. 1882Vines Sachs' Bot. 263 The yellow plasmodia inside a tan-heap..come to the surface, and then coalesce into the large bodies which are known as ‘flowers of tan’.
3. a. A blossom considered independently of the plant, and esp. in regard to its beauty or perfume. no flowers (by request): an intimation that flowers are not desired at a funeral; hence, no outward sign of mourning or regret.
c1275Luue Ron 151 in O.E. Misc. 97 Þu art swetture þane eny flur. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 214/491 A fair Medwe he saiȝ with swete floures. a1300Floriz & Bl. 434 Flures To strawen in þe maidenes bures. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 86 As the bees loue the swetest of the floures. 1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 59 Als fresch as flouris that in May vp spredis. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 169 Strew me ouer With Maiden Flowers. 1656Cowley Anacreontiques, Another Epicure, Beauteous Flowers, why do we spread, Upon the Mon'ments of the Dead? 1732Pope Ep. Cobham 148 We..justly set the Gem above the Flower. 1900C. Hanbury Let. 5 Aug. in Autobiogr. (1901) xv. 224 When the Home-going is, I want to say with more than common emphasis—‘by desire’—no flowers; also no bell tolling. 1923H. C. Bailey Mr. Fortune's Practice iii. 84 No flowers, by request. Don't be an owl. 1928E. Wallace Gunner xxii, I shall..explain to the police why I shot you, and there will be no flowers from Scotland Yard. 1970Times 17 Nov. 20/2 Cremation at 11.30 a.m. at Exeter Crematorium, Thursday 19th November. No flowers by request.
b. fig. (esp. as applied to a person.)
a1225Ancr. R. 340 Uertus beoð..swote smellinde flures ine Godes neose. a1310in Wright Lyric P. 93 Blessed be thou..suete flur of parays. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxxv. 10 Aue Maria..Haile, fresche flour femynyne! 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 77 Nay hee's a flower, in faith a very flower. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 217 My wife told me a good deal of the beauties of your person; but I did not think we had such a flower in our country. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 86 And they will beat my girl Remembering her mother: O my flower!
c. pl. The bloom of certain plants used in Medicine (formerly also in Cookery).
c1430Two Cookery-bks. 29 Take Flourys of Vyolet, boyle hem. 1586W. Bailey 2 Treat. Eye-sight (1633) 11 An ounce of the water of Rosemarie flowers. 1600W. Vaughan Direct. Health (1633) 76 Halfe a handfull of the flowers of Camomill. 1652Chamomel flowers [see camomile 2].
4. a. A flowering plant; a plant cultivated or esteemed for the sake of its blossoms.
1500–20Dunbar Poems x. 41 Now spring vp flouris fra the rute..Lay out ȝour levis lustely. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 870 Unwholesome weeds take root with precious flowers. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 273 O flours That never will in other climate grow. 1725Watts Logic i. vi. §3 (1822) 99 If the blossom be of most importance we call it [the plant] a flower. 1796C. Marshall Garden. xviii. (1813) 289 Flowers..are classed into annuals, biennials and perennials.
b. In the names of various plants, as † flower of Bristol, † flower (of) Constantinople, the nonsuch, Lychnis chalcedonica; flower of Jove (see quot.); flower of the night (see quot. 1665); flower of the sun = sunflower.
1578Lyte Dodoens ii. viii. 157 Flos Constantinopolitanus, that is to say Floure Constantinople. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cxix. §5. 380 It is called..in English..of some Flower of Bristowe, and Nonesuch. Ibid. ccxlvii. 612 Of the flower of the Sunne, or the Marigolde of Peru. 1665Ray Flora ii. xvii. 195 The Mervail of Peru..These flowers..are to be seen late in evenings, or early in mornings, and therefore have been called the flowers of the night. 1672W. Hughes Flower Garden 33 Flowers of the Sun, do commonly flower about August. Ibid., Flower of Bristol, Champion or Non⁓such. 1840Paxton Bot. Dict. 134 Flower of Jove, Lychnis flos Jovis.
5. The representation of a flower:
a. in drawing, painting, and weaving.
c1230Hali Meid. 23 Þe flurs þat beoð idrahe þron [on a gerlaundesche]. a1300Body & Soul 14 in Map's Poems 334 Thi riche halles? I-peynted with so riche floures? 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1413 Some were..feyr peyntede wyth frute and floures. c1400Rom. Rose 891 Nought clad in silk was he But alle in floures. a1400–50Alexander 1539 A vestoure to vise on of violet floures. 1830Tennyson Recoll. Arab. Nts. xiv, Engarlanded and diaper'd With in⁓wrought flowers, a cloth of gold.
b. Arch.
1730–6Bailey (folio), Flowers [in Architecture], representations of some imaginary flowers, by way of crowning or finishing on the top of a dome. 1741Chambers Cycl. Flower of the capital, is an ornament..in form of a rose, in the middle of the sweep of the Corinthian abacus.
c. Printing. (See quot. 1871.)
1771Luckombe Hist. & Art Print. 287 Flowers were the first Ornaments which were used at the Head of..pages. 1779Franklin Lett. Wks. 1889 VI. 427 Did they take all the letters, flowers, etc., etc., except the five cases of money types which you say the Congress have? 1838Timperley Printers' Man. 62 Flowers are used for borders. 1871Ringwalt Amer. Encycl. Printing 172 Flowers, ornaments for embellishing chapter-headings, or forming tail-pieces to books. 1888in Jacobi Printers' Voc.
d. = fleur-de-lis 2 and 3. flower of the winds: see quot. 1867.
c1314Guy Warw. (A.) (1887) 462 He..hit him on þe helme so briȝt, That al þe floures fel doun riȝt. 1352Minot Poems ix. i, The flowres that faire war Er fallen in Fraunce. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 162 If the flower of the nedle be righte Northe from it. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers I. viii. 393 The favourite Anglo-Saxon kind of ornament, called the ‘flower’. 1867Smyth Sailors' Word-bk., Flower of the Winds, the mariner's compass on maps and charts.
e. † A flower-shaped branch or bowl of a candlestick. Also, a piece of iron shaped like a fleur-de-lis.
1521Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 128, I will that there be maid for every flowre of the candlestike a tapur of wod. 1888Sheffield Gloss., Flower, the piece of iron which fastens a vice to a table or bench.
f. An artificial flower (as an ornament).
1881Illustr. Househ. Jrnl. Sept. 121/3 The most popular flowers just now for bonnet trimmings..are made of velvet.
6. a. An adornment or ornament; a precious possession, a ‘jewel’.
1542–5Brinklow Lament. 9 London beyng one of the flowers of the worlde as touchinge worldlye riches. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 203 That's æneas..hee's one of the flowers of Troy. 1647May Hist. Parl. ii. iii. 40 The nomination of any persons to those places, he will reserve to himself, it being a principal and inseparable flower of his Crown. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 63 The Dutch robbed of one of their greatest Flowers. 1783–94Blake Songs Innoc., Holy Thursday 5 O what a multitude they seem'd, these flowers of London town. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 219 The power of pardoning..a precious prerogative which..even the Whigs allowed to be a flower properly belonging to the Crown.
†b. phr. to bear, fang, have the flower (of): to gain the victory, to have preëminence (among).
c1310Pol. Songs (Camden) 248 Is Edward ded? Of Christendom he ber the flour! a1400–50Alexander 500 And þar þe floure in þe filde I fangid þurȝe himselfe. Ibid. 2603 For he þat folows hase þe floure · & he flees neuer. c1435Torr. Portugal 2595 Torent the floure away bare.
†c. Virginity. Obs.
a1300Fall & Passion 52 in E.E.P. (1862) 14 Maid bere heuen king.. þer for sso ne les noȝt hir flure. 1393Gower Conf. II. 334 O Pallas noble quene..Help, that I lese nought my flour.
d. An embellishment or ornament (of speech); a choice phrase. rare in sing.
1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 117 Thare was Mercurius, wise and eloquent, Of rethorike that fand the flouris faire. 1533Udall (title) Flovres for Latyne Spekynge, selected and gathered oute of Terence. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. v. i. (1845) 298 Discourses not tricked up with Flowers of Rhetorick. 1779Sheridan Critic i. i, Your occasional tropes and flowers suit the general coarseness of your style, as tambour sprigs would a ground of linsey-woolsey. 1819Moore Tom Crib's Mem. (ed. 3) 41 Bob's harangue, 'Twas deuced fine..All full of flowers. 1873Dixon Two Queens III. xv. iii. 145 Ulrich von Hutten heard Italian orators smother them ‘in flowers of speech’.
7. The choicest individual or individuals among a number of persons or things; ‘the pick’.
flower of chivalry, etc., may belong to this sense or to 9, according as the accompanying n. is taken as abstr. or concr.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 257 Moder milde flur of alle. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 433 Þe noble tour, Þat of all þe tours of Engelond ys yholde flour. 1370Robt. Cicyle 50 He was of chevalrye the floure. 1508Dunbar Poems iv. 50 The noble Chaucer, of makaris flouir. 1548Hall Chron., Hen IV (an. 1) 17 b, There wer slain the flower of all Loughdean. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 1017/2 They were the flowre..of the Elect. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 197 Noblemen, which be the flowre of gentilitie. 1649Bp. Hall Cases Consc. 443 S. Ambrose, and S. Augustine (the flower of the Latine fathers)..doe bitterly oppose it. 1764Mem. G. Psalmanazar 74 Yet I was always singled out as the flower of the flock. 1783Watson Philip III i. (1839) 49 They had consented to his selecting the flower of the English forces. 1800–24Campbell Brave Roland vi, Roland, the flower of chivalry. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 277, I take her for the flower of womankind. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 348 The London clergy, then universally acknowledged to be the flower of their profession, held a meeting.
8. The best, choicest, most attractive or desirable part or product of anything, material or immaterial; the essence, quintessence; also ‘the gist’ (of a matter).
The earliest appearance of this sense in English is in the specific application now differentiated as flour n., q.v.
1568Tilney Disc. Mariage A viij, Matromonie..containeth the felicity of man's life, the Flower of Friendship. 1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner N v, Creame..Flos lactis. Rightly so tearmed by the Latines, for it is the very flower of milke, as also butter is the flower of Creame. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 351 The flower of gaine and emolument to this State. 1685Baxter Paraph. N.T., Phil. iv. 4 That holy joy in the Lord is that Flower of Religion which all Christians should desire. a1732Gay Fables, Man, Cat, Dog & Fly 124, I sip the tea's delicious flower. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. iii. v, The flower of the matter is, that they are but nine; that they sit in secret. 1842Tennyson E. Morris 69 Thrice-happy days! The flower of each, those moments when we met. 1871Tyndall Fragin. Sc. (1879) II. ii. 27 Here we have the flower and outcome of Newton's induction.
9. The brightest and fairest example or embodiment of any quality. Cf. pink.
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 213 Syre Wawein ys neueu, flour of corteysye. c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 107 In his tyme of strengthe he [Hercules] was the flour. c1450Crt. of Love 3 The floure of porte in womanhede. 1508Dunbar Poems vii. 81 Prynce of fredom, and flour of gentilnes. 1581Sidney Astr. & Stella xcix, Mornes messenger..Cals each wight to salute the floure of blisse. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. v. 44 He is not the flower of curtesie. 1611Coryat Crudities 353 Cicero, Hortensius, Caesar, and those other selected flowers of eloquence. 1859Tennyson Elaine 113 Lancelot, the flower of bravery.
10. a. The state or condition of being in bloom or blossom; in phrases in flower, † in (their) flowers.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 209 His Limes were first in Flow'rs. 1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3697/4 Ranunculos's, and Tulips, in their Flowers. 1712Addison Spect. No. 414 ⁋5 An Orchard in Flower looks..more delightful than..the most finished Parterre.
†b. transf. of birds. Obs.
1607Topsell Serpents (1658) 654 Young birds..are in their full flowre ere one be a ware. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 29/2 Cocks, Pheasants, and Peacocks..are much more beautiful in their natural flower.
11. Of persons: The period or state of ‘bloom’, vigour, or prosperity.
a. The prime (of life), the bloom (of youth); esp. in phrases, † in youth's flowers, in the flower of one's age.
1508Dunbar Twa mariit wemen 170 A ȝoung man ryght ȝaip, bot nought in ȝouth[is] flouris. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV (an. 13) 32 Taken prisoner and so remained in Englande..till the flower of his age was passed or sore blemyshed. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 41 Let not the floure of life passe by us. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 4 In the first flower of his age. 1733Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 102 In flow'r of age you perish for a song! 1827Scott Jrnl. 4 Aug., He is a man in the flower of life, about thirty. 1830Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere ii, A simple maiden in her flower Is worth a hundred coats-of-arms. 1863M. Howitt F. Bremer's Greece I. viii. 257 They were in the flower of youth and beauty.
†b. The state or condition of greatest eminence, fame, prosperity, etc. Chiefly phr. in one's flower(s.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 316 Þe Emperour of Rome was þanne in his flouris. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2190 A man hath most honour To dyen in his excellence and flour. a1500Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) 434 Alas! now fallen is my flower! 1547–64Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) 2 In which time æsopus the orator was in his flower. 1550Coverdale Bk. Death i. xl. 158 Whyle a man is in his floures of health. 1665J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 207 Jeffery Monmouth was in his Flower Anno 1156.
†c. Bloom or beauty. Obs.
1608Shakes. Per. iii. ii 96 See how she gins to blow Into life's flower again!
12. a. Simple attrib., as flower-bed, flower-bell, flower-border, flower-court, flower-garden, flower-garland, flower-jar, flower-plat, flower-plot, flower-root, flower-seed, flower-sheath, flower-shop, flower-show, flower-spike, flower-stand, flower-stick, flower-time, flower-tree.
1873Longfellow Wayside Inn, Landlord's T., Sir Christopher 41 A modest *flower-bed thickly sown with sweet alyssum.
1830Tennyson Isabel iii, The stem, which else had fallen quite With cluster'd *flower-bells.
1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 36 A *Flower-Border. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 234 She was..delving and digging in her flower-border.
1828Ibid. Ser. iii. (1863) 25 Behind the house is an ample kitchen-garden, and before, a neat *flower-court.
1672W. Hughes (title), The *Flower-Garden. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 96 The court resembled a flower-garden.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 997 Ȝyf þou euer..Dedyst *floure gerlande or coroune To makë wommen to gadyr.
1835Southern Lit. Messenger I. 239 Getting some water from a *flower jar, I sprinkled it over her face. 1863B. Taylor H. Thurston ii. 35 Mrs. Babb..had gathered..the chrysanthemums..and stuck them into an old glass flower-jar.
1796Plain Sense II. 49 The little *flower plat put forth its beauties. 1854Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1870) II. 307 Suburban villas..with fancifully ornamented flower-plats before them.
1644J. Sergeant in Digby Nat. Bodies (1645) *2 a, Yours is a *Flower-plot pav'd by Truth's rich Gold. 1838Thirlwall Greece III. xx. 140 A little flower-plot, the superfluous ornament of a rich man's estate.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 208 Such Plants and *Flower-Roots as endure not well out of the Ground. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 241 Flower-roots, sundry boxes of books, a piano-forte.
1807Jane Austen Let. 20 Feb. (1932) I. 182 You are recommended to bring away some *flower-seeds. 1866A. D. Whitney L. Goldthwaite vii, There were flower-seeds—bags labelled ‘Petunia’.
1859Tennyson Enid 365 A blossom vermeil-white, That lightly breaks a faded *flower-sheath.
1867Amer. Naturalist May. I. 154 Branches of this early gem may now be purchased..at the *flower-shops of Boston.
1845Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 316, I went..to a *flower-show in the Botanical Gardens.
1845Florist's Jrnl. 35 *Flower-spike from 2 to 3 feet long.
1838Lytton Alice 125 [She] busied herself with a *flower-stand in the recess.
1881Young Ev. Man his own Mechanic §708 *Flower-sticks may be square or round, according to the fancy of the maker.
1873Symonds Grk. Poets v. 127 This was the *flower-time of the Aeolians, their brief and brilliant spring.
c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 142 All sort of Greens and *flower trees.
b. objective, as flower-gatherer, flower-maker, flower-painter, flower-vendor; flower-gathering, flower-making, flower painting, vbl. ns.; flower-bearing, flower-breeding, flower-infolding, flower-sucking adjs.
1870Hooker Stud. Flora 422 Gramineæ..normally *flower-bearing (but sometimes also empty) glumes. 1891Daily News 4 Feb. 5/7 Behind the hearse there was a body of flower-bearing mutes.
1767G. S. Carey Hills of Hybla 1 O'er..*flower-breeding vales.
1611Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. xliv. 87/1 So the *flower gatherer of Westminster recordeth.
1933R. Tuve Seasons & Months iv. 163 A *flower-gathering scene is similar in temper.
1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. i, The *flower-infolding buds Burst on yon lightning-blasted almond-tree.
1809Han. More. Cœlebs (ed. 3) I. 145 The street where the poor *flower-maker lived.
1884Beck Draper's Dict. 130 Dyed feathers when used in *flower-making are..apt to fade.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 349 The mere *flower-painter is..oblig'd to study the form of festons.
1854Fairholt Dict. Terms Art, *Flower-painting..may be said to have asserted its proper place as an Art sui generis in the seventeenth century.
1621G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xv. (1626) 313 *Flowre-sucking Bees.
1861Crt. Life at Naples I. 207 The beggars and *flower-vendors sought shady nooks.
c. instrumental, as flower-bespangled, flower-besprinkled, flower-crowned, flower-decked, flower-embroidered, flower-enamelled, flower-inwoven, flower-sprinkled, flower-strewn, flower-teeming adjs.
1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. (1886) 20 Thicket, still fragrant and still *flower-bespangled.
1851Longfellow Gold. Leg. iii. Sq. in front Cathedral, It looks like a *flower-besprinkled meadow.
1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Magnif. 808 The *flowr-crown'd People, swarming on the Green. 1870Bryant Iliad I. viii. 248 Bowls of wine flower-crowned.
1805Wordsw. Prelude iv. (1888) 262/1, I had left a *flower-decked room.
1747G. Lyttelton Monody v. 58 Sequester'd dales And *flower-embroider'd vales.
1603Drayton Bar. Wars v. xviii, Along the *flow'r enamell'd vales The silver Trent..doth slide.
1629Milton Nativity 187 With *flower-inwoven tresses torn The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn.
1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede 13 The scythe being whetted makes us cast more lingering looks at the *flower-sprinkled tresses of the meadows.
1847M. Howitt Ballads etc. 363 The *flower-strewn earth is wondrous fair.
1838J. Pardoe River & Desert II. 43 A *flower-teeming land.
d. parasynthetic and similative, as flower-bright, flower-faced, flower-like, flower-shaped, flower-soft, flower-sweet, flower-wise adjs.; flower-like, flower-wise advs.
1906Daily Chron. 11 Apr. 8/1 The..*flower-bright stretches of the great park. 1952C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid xii. 278 Led by the queen's daughter, who tore at her flower-bright tresses And rose-petal cheeks.
1881Rita My Lady Coquette I. iii, He glances down at the slim, *flower-faced maiden.
1604Rowlands Looke to it 47 *Flower-like they wither and decay. 1846Ellis Elgin Marb. I. 28 Surmounted by a flower-like ornament.
1836–7Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 414/1 Tubes, ending in *flower-shaped capsules.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 215 The Silken Tackle, Swell with the touches of those *Flower-soft hands.
1865Swinburne Chastelard i. i, I love her for sweet eyes or brows or hair, For the smooth temples, where God touching her Made blue with sweeter veins the *flower-sweet white. 1908Hardy Dynasts iii. v. ii. 431 To put it so is flower-sweet of you. 1925J. Gregory Bab of Backwoods 34 Flower-sweet attributes of girlhood.
1865Swinburne Atlanta 213 [Grief shall come] *Flower-wise upon the old root of tears brought forth.
13. a. Special comb.: flower-animals, a book-name for the Anthozoa; flower arrangement, the decorative arrangement of flowers; hence (as a back-formation) flower-arrange v. intr.; also flower-arranger, flower-arranging vbl. n.; flower-beetle U.S., a beetle which feeds upon flowers, esp. one belonging to the sub-family Cetoniinæ; flower-book, a book in which (a) drawings of flowers are made; (b) collected flowers are preserved; flower-box, a box in which flowers are grown, e.g. one placed outside a window, a window-box; flower-bud, an unopened flower, as distinguished from a leaf-bud; flower-bug, U.S., the popular name of various small hemipterous insects which frequent the blossoms of flowering plants, as the species of Anthocoris (Cent. Dict.); flower-cup, (a) the calyx; (b) the cup-shaped receptacle formed by a flower; flower decoration = flower arrangement; flower-fence, the plant Poinciana pulcherrima; flower-fly, a dipterous insect which frequents flowers, esp. one belonging to the family Syrphidæ; flower-girl, a girl who sells flowers; flower-head, an inflorescence consisting of a close cluster of sessile florets; flower-honey (see quot.); flower-knot, a small flower-bed arranged in a pattern; flower-leaf, a petal; flower-pecker, (a) a name for birds of the family Dicæidæ; (b) ‘an American honey-creeper or guitguit of the family Cœrebidæ’ (Cent. Dict.); flower-piece, (a) a picture with flowers for its subject; (b) an arrangement of flowers; flower-printed a., bearing a floral design; flower room, a work-room in which flowers are arranged; flower-stalk, the peduncle supporting the flower or flower-head; flower-water, distilled water containing the essential oil of flowers; flower-work, a representation of flowers in weaving, carving, etc.
1840F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. I. 177 The elegant *flower-animal, Diazoma, is found on the barrier-reef. 1846Dana Zooph. i. (1848) 7 The forms of life under consideration..are appropriately styled flower-animals.
1900G. Jekyll Home & Garden xiii. 141 The elaborate system of *flower arrangement practised by the Japanese. 1933A. L. Sadler Art Flower Arrangem. Japan iv. 54 The names of the three elements of a flower arrangement are taken from the three powers of nature, Heaven, Earth and Man. 1962I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xxxv. 336 She noted..which buds would be ready..for her flower-arrangement at the Women's Institute.
1955in Amer. Speech (1956) XXXI. 84 J― is *flower⁓arranging.
1967Listener 16 Mar. 357/3 It is no wonder that flower arranging is a difficult business.
1966Times 17 Sept. 12/1 (caption) *Flower arrangers make great use of shrubs, both for their flowers and their foliage.
1842T. W. Harris Insects Injur. Veget. 22 The tree-beetles..during the same period of their lives, frequent flowers, and are called *flower-beetles. 1895J. H. & A. Comstock Man. Stud. Insects xxi. 564 The flower-beetles are so called because many of them are often seen feeding upon pollen and flying from flower to flower. 1955Borror & Delong Introd. Study Insects xxii. 390 The flower beetles are principally pollen feeders.
1753–4Shenstone Poet. Wks. (1854) 137 (title) Written in a *flower book of my own colouring. 1857Thoreau Maine W. (1894) 277, I used some thin and delicate sheets of this bark..in my flower-book.
1876J. S. Ingram Centenn. Exposition xii. 398 The general description of tiles made by this firm are here enumerated. Encaustic and tesselated tile pavement;..*flower-boxes, etc.
1871Leisure Hour 478/1 One kind [of caterpillar]..manages to enclose a young *flower-bud betwixt the leaves.
1756P. Browne Jamaica 140 The *flower-cups are cut into four deep segments at the margin. 1860Tyas Wild Fl. 41 The flower cup consists of two obtuse lips.
1907G. Jekyll (title) *Flower decoration in the house. 1937C. Spry Flowers in House & Garden 143 If one wants to achieve a facility with flower decorations there should be endless experiment of arranging them. 1967Everyman Encycl. V. 338/1 Flower decoration. The arrangement of F[lower]s for interior adornment has achieved..popularity.
1786Rees Cycl., Barbadoes *flower-fence, poinciana..is planted in hedges, to divide the lands in Barbadoes, from whence it had the title of flower-fence. 1882J. Smith Dict. Econ. Plants, Flower-fence, a name in India for Cæsalpinia (Poinciana) pulcherrima.
1842T. W. Harris Insects Injur. Veget. 414 *Flower-flies..are easily distinguished from the preceding flies..by the smaller size of their winglets. 1951C. N. Colyer Flies Brit. Isles xii. 154 (heading) Syrphidae, hover-flies, drone flies, flower flies.
1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 236 *Flower-girls with baskets. 1889Tablet 3 Aug. 167 There are two classes of flower-girl—the day-sellers and the night-sellers.
1845Lindley Sch. Bot. i. (1858) 12 The *flower-head, when all the flowers are sessile upon a broad plate..as in the Daisy.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. 184 There is three sortes of Hony, the best kinde is that which is called..*flowre Hony, made in the springtime. 1601Holland Pliny I. 316 Floure-honey.
1770Armstrong Misc. II. 142 The sweet green..is the predominant colour; while the gaudy flowers..are carelessly interspersed. This is infinitely more pleasing and beautiful than..a *flower-knot. 1893S.E. Worc. Gloss., Flower-knot, a small flower bed.
1727Bailey vol. II, Dipetalous Flower..is that which has two *Flower Leaves. 1860Oliver Less. Bot. (1873) 4 Whether it be green, as are foliage-leaves, or coloured, as are flower-leaves.
1885H. O. Forbes Nat. Wand. E. Archip. vi. 212 Little flocks of the small green *Flower-pecker (Zosterops).
a1784Johnson Wks. (1816) I. 334 A room hung with *flower-pieces of her own painting.
1952R. S. Thomas Acre of Land 31 He cannot read the *flower-printed book Of nature. 1970Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 17 Maxi dress with sash belt, in turquoise flower-printed cotton.
1873Young Englishwoman Nov. 562 A *flower room. 1967M. Summerton Memory of Darkness vii. 95, I retired to the flower room in which Fenton had dumped enough ill-assorted blooms to stock a florist's. 1968A. Christie By Pricking of my Thumbs vii. 85 ‘A flower room, I shouldn't wonder,’ he said. ‘Where people used to do the flowers. See?’
1789Pilkington View Derbysh. I. 415 Three inches of its *flowerstalk may be seen above the surface.
1886U.S. Consular Rep. No. lxviii. 581 *Flower waters are produced by ordinary distillation, in which the flowers are boiled with water in large alembics.
1601Holland Pliny I. 228 Robes ..wrought thick with *floure-worke, resembling poppies. 1848Rickman Archit. 211 The benches..present in their ends and fronts, combinations of panelling and flower-work. 1865E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 193 It is a pity..such flower-work [lace] should be so poorly paid.
b. flower children, people, term applied to the adherents of a sub-group of hippies, so called from their habit of wearing or carrying flowers as symbols of peace and love. Also flower power, an expression used to describe the beliefs and conventions of this sub-group.
1967Times 13 July 2/6 The term flower children has been given to devotees of mind-expanding drugs in California. 1967Guardian 25 July 6/6 Beat-reared, Greenwich-nurtured teenagers are running away..to be flower people. 1967Listener 3 Aug. 131/3 A new world consisting very largely of the hippies, the flower-power generation. 1967Time 25 Aug. 38 In came the beautiful people on four motorcycles, right into the ballroom, oozing with flower-power. 1969N. Cohn AWopBopaLooBop (1970) xxiv. 225 As fads go, Flower Power was less than impressive... London was content mostly to ape California. Everyone wore kaftans and beads and bells. Everyone spoke in hushed tones of San Francisco and Monterey, of acid and Love and the Maharishi. 1969Listener 5 June 793/2 The political innocence of the Hornsey flower children. 1970Globe Mag. (Toronto) 26 Sept. 14/1 The flower children..arrive by the hundreds to find thousands like themselves sleeping in vacant lots. 1971K. Amis Girl, 20 iv. 152 Just another fun thing and now thing, like these clothes they all wear and theatre in the nude and flower power and environmental art.
Add:[4.] [b.] flower of an hour U.S., a malvaceous plant, Hibiscus trionum, native to southern Europe and Africa but now found on waste ground in North America, and having short-lived white or pale yellow flowers.
1818A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 2) Bladder ketmia, flower of an hour. 1902F. S. Mathews Field Bk. Amer. Wild Flowers 266 An annual..with handsome..flowers, with a black purplish centre that quickly fade, hence called flower-of-an-hour. 1939Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 229/2 The dainty little flower-of-an-hour..clothes waysides, roadsides, ditches, and waste places.
[13.] [a.] flower-girl, (b) orig. U.S., a little girl who carries flowers or scatters them in front of the bride at a wedding; a child bridesmaid.
1902F. Kingsland Bk. Weddings xv. 113 When there are young children in the family, they add much to the beauty and charm of a wedding pageant dressed as flower-girls and court pages. 1977West Briton 25 Aug. 16/6 The bridesmaids..wore dresses of pink chiffon and carried posies of gold rosebuds. The flower girl..wore a blue and white dress.
▪ II. flower, v.|ˈflaʊə(r)|
Forms: 4–7 flour(e, 5–7 flowr, (5 flore), 6– flower.
[f. prec. n. Cf. OF. florir (mod.F. fleurir), L. flōrēre.]
1. a. intr. To bloom or blossom; to come into bloom, produce flowers. Of a flower: To expand, open.
13..K. Alis. 2904 Þe medes floureþ, þe foules syngeþ. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 270 A rose, Þat flowred and fayled as kynd hit gef. 1393Gower Conf. II. 266 A drie braunche..which anon gan floure and bere. c1440Promp. Parv. 168/1 Flowryn. 1578Lyte Dodoens v. lxxx. 651 The vine flowreth in high and base Germanie..about the beginning of June. 1672Grew Anat. Plants, Idea Philos. Hist. (1682) §14 Plants, which flower all the Year. 1712Addison Spect. No. 418 ⁋8 His Rose-trees, Wood-bines and Jessamines may flower together. 1842N. B. Ward Closed Cases Pl. iii. (1852) 51 All these [plants] flowered well. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets v. 128 Olive-groves..where the cyclamen and violet flowered with feathery maiden-hair.
b. fig. Also with out, into. † to flower off: (of reflexions) to arise spontaneously in the treatment of a subject.
a1225Ancr. R. 340 Mi vlesch is iflured & bicumen al neowe. c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 306 Your chere floureth, but hit wol not sede. 1642More Song of Soul iii. iii. xxxviii. 1 Whose drooping phansie never flowred out. 1644Milton Educ. Wks. (1738) I. 135 If you can accept of these few Observations which have flowr'd off. 1846Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. II. 34 The thorny and bitter aloe of dissension required less than a century to flower on the steps of your temple. 1859Hawthorne Marb. Faun xxxiv. (1883) 358 The mediæval front of the cathedral, where the imagination of a Gothic architect had long ago flowered out indestructibly. 1865M. C. Harris Christine xxxii, It seemed as if earth had suddenly flowered into a paradise. Ibid. xxxvi, The evil in him had flowered out into luxurious growth. 1885Clodd Myths & Dr. ii. i. 146 The germs of those capacities which..have flowered in the noblest and wisest of our race.
c. trans. (causatively). To cause (a plant) to bloom; to bring into blossom or flower.
1850Florist Mar. 66 They winter better in the pots they were flowered in. 1887Baring-Gould Gold. Feather xii, Azaleas which were..put under glass and flowered.
†2. transf. Of beer and wine:
a. To froth, mantle. Obs.
1382Wyclif Prov. xxiii. 31 Ne beholde..the win, whan it floureth. 1530Palsgr. 552/2 This ale floureth better in a good drinkers eye. a1592Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse Wks. (Rtldg.) 127/2 All Nineveh hath not such a cup of ale, it flowers in the cup. 1694Westmacott Script. Herb. 22 It makes beer to mantle, flower, and smile at you. 1750W. Ellis Country Housewife's Fam. Comp. 187 If a little wheat-bran is boiled in our ordinary beer, it will cause it to mantle or flower in the cup, when it is poured out.
†b. To become turbid. Obs.
1682Art & Myst. Vintners iv. §17 Rack [sack] into another Cask, and it will not then flower nor be ill-conditioned.
†c. trans. To spice (wine). Obs.
1682Art & Myst. Vintners i. §28 To flower a Butt of Muskadine.
†3. intr. To be in or attain the ‘flower’ or height of one's beauty, fame, or prosperity (also with up); to prosper, be distinguished; to thrive or be distinguished in, of or with (a specified thing); to abound; = flourish v. 3, 4. Obs.
1340Ayenb. 28 Ase ine yere þet wel floureþ ine guode. c1374Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. v. 131 Forto dwellen in hys Citee and flouren of rychesses. c1430Lydg. Bochas i. viii. (1544) 12 b, While he floured in his worthines He toke a wyfe of excellent fayrenes. Ibid. i. iv. (1544) 8 Flouryng up in her tender age This sayd Isis so pleasaunt was and mete. 1494Fabyan Chron. v. cxl. §125 In this tyme flowryd Hermafreditus. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 327 This Redwalde had .ii. sones flourynge in chyualrye. 1531Elyot Gov. i. xi, That noble clerke of Almaine, which late floured, called Agricola.
†4. trans. To adorn or cover with or as with flowers or a flower; to decorate; to serve as a decoration for. Also with over. Obs.
1577–8Holinshed Chron. (1808) IV. 870 He..floured the top of the castell of Dublin with the archrebels head. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. and Commw. 290 The Chambers are flowerd with coloured Marbles, and garnished. 1645Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 11 Christ, who perfumeth and flowereth heaven with his royal presence. c1650Robin Hood & Three Squires 66 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 18 Thou shalt be the first man shall flower this gallow tree. 1791W. Bartram Carolina 161 Its thick foliage..is flowered over with large milk-white fragrant blossoms.
5. a. To embellish with figures of flowers or a floral design; to work flowers upon.
16..Young Tam Lane iii. in Child Ballads ii. (1884) 352/1 I'll away to Carterhaugh, And flower mysell the gown. 1699W. Dampier Voy II. i. 61 The Pelongs and Gaws, are..either plain or flower'd. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xix. 30 Mrs. Jervis shewed my master the waistcoat I am flowering for him. 1838Miss Mitford in Tait's Mag. V. 165 The form of a heather sprig suggested an apron that she was flowering. 1857Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 377 Ann flowered me a most lovely collar.
transf. and fig.1853M. Arnold Poems, Sohrab & Rustum, The frost flowers the whiten'd window-panes. 1882Blackmore Christowell I. iv. 37 Many sweet beauties..flower the skirts of the desolate moor.
b. intr. Of silver alloyed for use as coin: To assume the appearance of being marked with figures of flowers. See flowered ppl. a. 3 b.
1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xxxvi. 42 Rupee Silver..will bear twenty-eight per cent. of Copper-alloy..and if it flowers, it passes current. |