firebushn.
/ˈfʌɪəbʊʃ/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌbʊʃ/ 1. = burning bush n. a. Now rare.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > other shrubs > [noun]
moorworteOE
bean-trefoil1551
Osyris1562
bladder-nut1578
anagre1608
peasecod tree1611
firebush1639
Colutea1664
savin1697
houseleek-tree1732
Volkameria1753
Andromeda1760
bladder-senna1785
fringe-myrtle1866
thyrse-flower1866
eranthemum1882
nitre bush1884
ilima1888
1639 F. Robartes Gods Holy House 87 Why was Moses commanded..at the fire bush to put his shooes from his feet, rather there, then in any other place?
1833 H. Ellison Madmoments II. 276 Of old 't was in the Firebush that to His People God appeared.
1914 W. J. Sly World Stories Retold 129 Moses obeyed the Voice that spoke that day to him out of the fire-bush.
2011 E. Wilson Bible: It is What It Is 49 ‘You pray to the gold bull and I'll kill your children’...No doubt or beating around the firebush.
2. Any of several shrubby plants with red flowers, foliage, or fruit, esp. (more fully Chilean firebush, scarlet firebush) the small evergreen tree Embothrium coccineum (family Proteaceae), native to South America and widely grown elsewhere, which bears clusters of tubular scarlet flowers.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]
heatha700
beeworteOE
leversc725
springworteOE
clotec1000
halswortc1000
sengreenc1000
bottle?a1200
bird's-tonguea1300
bloodworta1300
faverolea1300
vetchc1300
pimpernel1378
oniona1398
bird's nest?a1425
adder's grassc1450
cockheada1500
ambrosia1525
fleawort1548
son before the father1552
crow-toe1562
basil1578
bird's-foot1578
bloodroot1578
throatwort1578
phalangium1608
yew1653
chalcedon1664
dittany1676
bleeding heart1691
felon-wort1706
hedgehog1712
land caltrops1727
old man's beard1731
loosestrife1760
Solomon's seal1760
fireweed1764
desert rose1792
star of Bethlehem1793
hen and chickens1794
Aaron's beard1820
felon-grass1824
arrowroot1835
snake-root1856
firebush1858
tick-seed1860
bird's eye1863
burning bush1866
rat-tail1871
lamb's earsa1876
lamb's tongue plant1882
tar-weed1884
Tom Thumb1886
parrotbeak1890
stinkweed1932
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Proteaceae family or plant > [noun]
protead1846
firebush1858
1858 Valley Farmer (St. Louis, Missouri) May 160/2 Transplant the young sassafras, maple, fire bush and red berry, young oaks and elms and you will soon be surrounded by beauty and grace.
1882 Garden 13 May 322/2 The Fire Bush (Embothrium coccineum)..which thrives so well in..Devonshire.
1908 Amer. Homes & Gardens Aug. 318/2 I find around the farmers' yards occasionally the strawberry bush, and not seldom the Euonymus, or as they call it, the fire-bush.
2004 D. F. Austin Florida Ethnobot. 551 I planted both firebush (Hamelia patens) and necklace pod (Sophora tomentosa).
2009 Garden Hist. 37 155 The Chilean Firebush..and..the Chilean Lantern bush, were also Lobb introductions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1639