baby's tears
- noun
- /ˈbeɪbiz tɪrz/
:
lágrimas de bebé
- She placed a pot of baby's tears on the windowsill for a delicate touch of greenery.
Examples
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After a few weeks, the baby's tears had spread to form a lush green carpet.
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The baby's tears plant is perfect for covering the soil in a terrarium.
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I love the look of baby's tears in my garden.
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Have you seen how baby's tears grow?
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The baby's tears plant thrives in humid conditions, making it ideal for bathrooms.
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To create a lush indoor garden, I added baby's tears among the other houseplants.
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In the summer, the baby's tears spread beautifully across the ground, creating a green carpet.
Synonyms
A low creeping plant with many tiny round leaves used as ground cover
A small creeping plant with many tiny round leaves used as a houseplant or ground cover
A small creeping plant with moss-like round leaves used as ground cover or a houseplant
A small plant with tiny leaves that spreads across the ground to make a green mat
Surface Forms
Morphology
baby's + tears
The phrase evokes the literal image of a baby's tears and thus suggests something very small, delicate, or teardrop-shaped, so a learner who knows 'baby' and 'tears' can infer a metaphorical relation to appearance. However, the specific denotation as a particular creeping Corsican houseplant is not directly derivable from the constituents and would usually require prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The plant baby's tears is named for its tiny, round leaves that look like little drops or tears. People thought the leaves looked like drops from a baby, so the image made the name stick to this small, soft plant that covers the soil.
