creeping lily
- noun
- Indian
:
lirio trepador
- Despite its beauty, every part of the creeping lily is highly poisonous if ingested.
Examples
-
The creeping lily climbed up the garden trellis, displaying its vibrant red petals.
-
In parts of Asia, the creeping lily is admired for its unusual flowers and tendril-like leaves.
-
The creeping lily thrives in warm climates.
-
Many gardeners love the beauty of creeping lilies.
-
The creeping lily is known for its striking purple flowers that bloom throughout the summer.
-
Gardeners often plant the creeping lily for its ability to climb and fill vertical spaces with color.
-
Because all parts of the creeping lily are toxic, it should be kept away from pets and children.
Synonyms
A climbing plant with bright red and yellow flowers that has poisonous parts
A climbing tropical plant with bright red or yellow flowers that is poisonous
A climbing plant with bright red, yellow, or purple flowers and poisonous parts
A climbing plant with tendrils at its leaf tips and bright red, yellow, or purple flowers that is poisonous
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'creep' (to extend or climb gradually) + 'lily' (a flowering plant); a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer it denotes a lily with a creeping/climbing growth habit. The present-participle adjective + noun pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic word-building pattern, so the compound is transparently interpretable from its parts.
Etymology
Creeping lily gets its name from the way it grows: creeping because it slowly climbs or spreads along supports, and lily because it has a bright, showy flower. So today the name means a climbing plant with striking flowers and parts that are 'poisonous'.
