Heather is a low, spreading plant with small purple, pink, or white flowers. Heather grows wild in Europe on high land with poor soil.
heather in British English
(ˈhɛðə)
noun
1. Also called: ling, heath
a low-growing evergreen Eurasian ericaceous shrub, Calluna vulgaris, that grows in dense masses on open ground and has clusters of small bell-shaped typically pinkish-purple flowers
2.
any of certain similar plants
3.
a purplish-red to pinkish-purple colour
adjective
4.
of a heather colour
5.
of or relating to interwoven yarns of mixed colours
heather mixture
Derived forms
heathered (ˈheathered)
adjective
heathery (ˈheathery)
adjective
Word origin
C14: originally Scottish and Northern English, probably from heath
Heather in American English
(ˈhɛðər)
noun
a feminine name
heather in American English
(ˈhɛðər)
noun
1.
any of various low-growing plants of the heath family; esp., a plant (Calluna vulgaris) common in the British Isles, with scalelike leaves and stalks of small, bell-shaped, purplish-pink flowers
adjective
2.
like heather in color or appearance
3.
a.
muted; soft
said of colors
b.
marked with flecks of various colors
heather tones
Derived forms
heathery (ˈheathery)
adjective
Word origin
altered (after heath) < ME (northern & Scot) haddyr, prob. < OE *hædre, parallel with clofre, clover, mædre, madder
More idioms containing
heather
set the heather on fire
Examples of 'heather' in a sentence
heather
Then the chance purchase of a sprig of white heather changes her luck.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
She gave him the spray of white heather.
Diana Wynne Jones CHARMED LIFE (1977)
Our captain and commander both wore white heather in their caps.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The site was subsequently lost beneath a blanket of gorse and heather.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The gorse and heather were ripped up and replaced by foreign grasses.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
They land on the grass or heather.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It is almost completely covered by heather and grass.
Brennan, J. H. A Guide to Megalithic Ireland (1992)
The natural foraging diet of wild deer ranges from heather and shrubs to herbaceous parkland.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But already it is covered again with purple swaths of bell heather and little bright green birch trees two feet tall.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But the bird to look out for in the gorse and heather is the Dartford warbler.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
One day, we had glorious sunshine and the velvet hills blazed with purple heather.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They sometimes take over a whole neglected meadow, which looks as if it is covered with tall purple heather.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
WILL need all the Lucky heather he can get.
The Sun (2012)
The third kind, bell heather, also has pink bells.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It is a wonderful land of funny flowers, and birds, and hills of pure white heather.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Head east across hills of gorse and heather and you'll be rewarded with sublime clifftop views over Llandudno.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Above the tree line grew the now widespread purple heather, holly and cranberries, mixed in with small shrubs.
Michael Boulter EXTINCTION: Evolution and the End of Man (2002)
The views were spectacular: soaring hills, swathes of purple heather and a tiny burn bubbling along the bottom of the valley.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
They fly up from the grass or heather in a series of short, rather feeble steps, making three thin notes as they rise.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Word lists with
heather
purple, shrub
In other languages
heather
British English: heather /ˈhɛðə/ NOUN
Heather is a low spreading plant with small purple, pink, or white flowers that grows wild on hills or moorland.