day lily
- noun
:
lirio de un día
- The day lily blooms in vibrant colors but the flowers only last for a single day.
- day lily flowers
Examples
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Then we have Day Lily, which actually I used in a TikTok and it's almost a perfect mix of heliotrope and foxglove.
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It's then that I begin my pursuit of Melanie, witness the death of my day lily, and become annoyed.
Fiction book (1997) -
I had to cut the day lilies back anyway.
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Joe and I planted some day lilies back there, I don't know if you saw them.
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So right back in here, there's some Baptisia, day lilies, monarda.
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They're a bulb just like day lilies or shallots, chives, garlic.
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In my garden, the day lilies brighten the summer with their beautiful yellow flowers.
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She enjoys picking day lilies every morning, appreciating their fleeting beauty.
Synonyms
4
6.3
A plant with long narrow leaves and flowers that open for one day
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'day lily' is compositional: 'day' modifies 'lily' to indicate a lily with a day-related property (specifically flowers that last only one day), so a learner who knows both words can infer the basic meaning. This is a non-idiomatic, descriptive botanical label that follows cross-linguistic compounding patterns, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Day lily gets its name from its bright lily-like flowers that usually open and fade in 'one day'. That's why people call the plant a day lily.