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to flower

to flower

40 1.0
To produce the colorful part of a plant that makes seeds
  • verb
  • /ˈflaʊər/
translation icon : florecer
  • The concept of human rights, for example, has flowered in the twentieth century.
  • flowering tree
  • begin to flower
  • yellow-flowered

It's holographic and it flowers up and it roots down.

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Examples

  • Belknap says the coffee will flower after the next rains.

  • In Israel, they flower in February, then they'll flower.

  • These these plants will not flower and then continue to grow.

  • I have one and the way they flower is funny.

  • "In Florida, where it flowers continually, it has been grown as a garden plant."

    Academic text (1994)
  • Plants in the wild look and behave differently, growing at different rates and flowering at different times.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Innocence cannot flower underground.

  • Sweet fern, despite its name and fern-like foliage, is actually a flowering plant in the wax myrtle family.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Then I picked up my head and inhaled the balmy, flowered air: jacarandas, bougainvillea, gardenias.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • In spring, the cherry trees flower beautifully, attracting many visitors to the park.

Synonyms

to bloom
vsto flower
100 2.3

To produce flowers or to grow well and become successful

is mainly the literal plant action rather than the broader thrive sense
to blossom
vsto flower
14 1.4

To produce flowers on a tree or plant

also applies to being decorated with petals or used for ornament
to effloresce
vsto flower
  • Literature
9.9

To begin to bloom or grow, like a plant showing flowers

is the ordinary, neutral term not the poetic or formal expression

Idioms

7.3

A person who is the best or most admired in a group

Compounds

14 1.0

A part of a garden where people plant flowers

7 2.1

A young girl who walks before the bride at a wedding and drops flower petals

A group of flowers put together to look attractive

A garden where people grow many flowers for beauty

flower child
  • Archaic
5 6.8

A young person, especially in the 1960s, who rejects normal values and supports peace and living simply with others

flower petal
  • Specialized
3 1.0

A soft, usually bright part of a flower

1 1.0

A shop that sells flowers and small plants

1 1.0

A small part on a plant that will become a flower, not a leaf

flower head
  • Specialized
1 3.0

A tight group of small flowers that look like one flower

1 1.3

A flower that grows naturally without being planted by people

A flower made from plastic, silk, or paper that looks like a real one

flower girl
  • Archaic
1 3.4

A person who sells flowers on the street

flower people
  • Archaic
1 8.6

People from the 1960s who believed in peace, love, and living together

flower power
  • Archaic
1 6.6

A youth movement in the 1960s that promoted peace, love and no violence

1 3.3

An upright stem that grows from the ground and holds a flower above the leaves

flower cluster
  • Specialized
1 2.7

A group of flowers that grow close together on a plant

hothouse flower
  • Offensive
1 8.9

A person who is very protected and cannot deal with hard situations

1 4.4

A climbing plant with hard stems and bright thin parts that look like paper and decorate gardens

9.1

A plant that lives for one year with purple, basket-like flower heads used to decorate gardens

A tropical plant with bright orange-red flowers that often grows as a weed

A tall plant from eastern North America with dense spikes of blue flowers

A plant with bright yellow, red or purple flowers often grown in gardens

A small wild flower with bright yellow shiny petals

butterfly flower
  • Specialized
8.2

A small garden plant with thin divided leaves and bright flowers with different colours

A shrub or small tree with clusters of pink flowers streaked with purple

A climbing plant with bright yellow flowers like a canary

A tall North American plant with bright red flowers that grows in wet places

carrion flower
  • Specialized
9.9

A fleshy plant without leaves that has large star-shaped flowers that smell like rotting meat and attract flies

A plant that lives for many years with bright orange flowers in the eastern and southern United States

A plant with red leaves like a poinsettia that people use to decorate at Christmas

compass flower
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant whose leaves point north and south

corkscrew flower
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical vine with bright yellow and purple flowers whose petals twist like a snail shell

8.2

A small tree or shrub with wrinkled bright flowers often planted in warm gardens

cushion flower
  • Australian
9.9

A tall shrub from Western Australia with large round red and yellow flowers

8.0

A wild plant with pink or white flowers that grows in damp meadows

A short, hairy plant that comes back every year and has blue-violet or lilac flowers in early spring

apetalous flower
  • Specialized
9.8

A flower with no petals

A plant that lives for many years with white to pink puffed flowers in long clusters on upright stems

A poisonous woody evergreen vine with sweet-smelling yellow flowers shaped like funnels in the southeastern United States

A flower that keeps its shape and color after drying for decoration

A garden plant with feathery leaves and blue or white flowers

fiesta flower
  • Specialized
9.9

A small wild plant with deep purple flowers that grows in California

fire flower
  • Jargon
8.0

A game item that lets a character throw fireballs at enemies

finger-flower
  • Archaic
9.9

A tall plant with large pink-purple tube flowers whose leaves are poisonous but make heart medicine

Growing and caring for plants that have flowers to make a place look nice

flower of youth
  • Archaic
7.5

A time in youth when a person has the most energy and hope

A young boy who walks in a wedding scattering petals

flower boy
  • Informal
7.6

A young man admired for soft, pretty looks and stylish clothes, often in fashion or pop culture

A string of flowers worn or hung for decoration

flower-cup fern
  • Specialized
9.8

A slender plant with shiny brown stalks and divided leaves with small brown dots along the edges

flower-of-an-hour
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant with yellow flowers that open in the morning and fade by midday

8.8

A desert plant with thick roots and narrow succulent leaves, each stem having one reddish-orange flower

A garden plant with long grasslike leaves and tall spikes of red or yellow drooping flowers

9.9

A plant from the US Southwest with fleshy roots and a single red-orange flower

A tall garden plant with long grasslike leaves and red or yellow hanging flower spikes

A tropical plant with a bright red, heart-shaped flower used for decoration

A low plant from Central America that grows along the ground and has frilly white flowers

A climbing plant with thick, leather-like outer parts and bell-shaped blooms

A garden plant with deep pink, drooping heart-shaped flowers

marcescent flower
  • Specialized
9.9

A flower that wilts but stays on the plant

A pink forest flower shaped like a slipper

mist-flower
  • Specialized
8.9

A plant that lives for many years with large bright blue flower clusters that attract butterflies

A low evergreen shrub often grown in gardens for its sweet-smelling pink or deep rose flowers

gand flower
  • Archaic
9.9

A small European plant with many branches and blue or pink flowers

A plant with round yellow flowers

guinea flower
  • Australian
9.9

A vine that stays green all year with large bright yellow flowers

A garden plant with hanging bell-shaped flowers that are purple and white in a checkered pattern

9.9

A poisonous plant with hooded blue-purple flowers that grows in northern Europe

honey-flower
  • Australian
9.1

An Australian shrub with groups of sweet flowers that attract bees and birds

A plant from the southwestern United States with narrow leaves and yellow-orange flowers

A climbing plant that has shiny green leaves and clusters of white fragrant flowers shaped like trumpets

A Mediterranean herb with strong seeds used to flavor bread and vegetables

proboscis flower
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with large spotted flowers and a long curved beak-shaped flower part

How Bloomed

to flower
40 1.0
to bud
11 1.0
to sprout
68 2.0

Surface Forms

flower infinitive
flowered past
flowered past participle
flowering present participle
flowers third person singular

Etymology

The verb flower comes from the same root flor-, which means 'bloom', so to flower is to open into blooms or to be covered or decorated with flowers.