flower
flower
/ˈflaʊə(r)/
1 the coloured part of a plant from which the seed or fruit develops. Flowers usually grow at the end of a stem and last only a short time.
The plant has a beautiful bright red flower.
in flower The roses are in flower early this year.
The crocuses are late coming into flower.
a flower bud/petal
It has deep pink scented flowers.
It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.
The bush was absolutely covered in flowers.
The flowers are pollinated by insects.
The flowers were still tightly closed.
Collocations
adjective
brightly coloured/colored
brilliantly coloured/colored
… of flowers
verb + flower
flower + verb
appear
go to seed
flower + noun
preposition
in flower
phrases
a bank of flowers
a carpet of flowers
a mass of flowers
2 a plant grown or valued for the beauty of its flowers
a garden full of flowers
The forest floor was a carpet of wild flowers.
Flowers were blooming everywhere.
a flower garden/show
The alleys were adorned with banks of flowers.
The spring flowers were just coming out.
3 a flower with its stem that has been picked as a decoration
I picked some flowers.
cut/fresh/dried flowers
a bouquet/bunch of flowers
a flower arrangement
He took her flowers and chocolates.
I ordered flowers online for her birthday.
I sent him flowers to apologize.
I'm learning flower arranging.
They sell a few pot plants, but they mainly sell cut flowers.
Idioms
Word Origin
Middle English flour, from Old French flour, flor, from Latin flos, flor-. The original spelling was no longer in use by the late 17th cent. except in its specialized sense ‘ground grain’ (see flour).