🛣️ A road interchange ☘️ A plant

cloverleaf

1 3.3

A small plant with leaves divided into three or four rounded parts

noun
/ˈkloʊvərˌliːf/

: trébol

When we drove through the cloverleaf junction, we were amazed at the smooth flow of traffic.

Examples

So here we have tRNA in the cloverleaf depiction, just an alla tRNA, alla.
The cloverleaf design of the highway interchange allows cars to merge smoothly without stopping.
And so for RNA, so it's a famous sample of an RNA structure, this sort of cloverleaf structure that all trnas have.
In the garden, the cloverleaf plant provides a unique beauty with its rounded leaf segments.

Synonyms

clover

vscloverleaf

38 1.0

A small green plant with three round leaves that farm animals often eat

also includes four-part variants and a road junction shape

shamrock

vscloverleaf

13 4.7

A small plant like clover with three leaves that is a symbol of Ireland

is more general and includes four-part plants and a road junction

Trifolium

vscloverleaf

Specialized

8.8

A plant with leaves divided into three parts, commonly called clover

is the broader nontechnical term that also covers junction shapes

genus Trifolium

vscloverleaf

Specialized

7.9

A group of plants like clover whose leaves have three parts

is used more generally and also names a junction shaped like leaves

Surface Forms

cloverleaf singular

cloverleaves plural

Morphology

cloverleaf = clover + leaf (transparent) = clover + leaf

The meaning is a direct combination of 'clover' and 'leaf' (a leaf of the clover or plant related to clover leaves), which a learner who knows both words can derive.

Etymology

Cloverleaf comes from the two words clover and leaf, named after the plant whose leaves are in three or four rounded parts. So a cloverleaf can mean the plant or anything that looks like its leaves, giving an easy image to remember the word.