mountain laurel
- noun
- /ˈmaʊntən ˈlɔːrəl/
- US
:
laurel de montaña
- This tree we call mountain laurel is similar to wisteria, and the fragrance of its blooming can make you reel!
- mountain laurel and rhododendron
Examples
-
In the spring, the mountain laurel bursts into bloom, filling the forest with clusters of pink flowers.
-
There were still a few rhododendrons and mountain laurels blossoming in the deep shade.
Fiction book (1990) -
Even a field of blooming mountain laurels couldn't cheer us.
Fiction book (2002) -
Farther on, he saw yellow trout lily, and beyond that, a dense stand of mountain laurel with its perfect white blossoms.
Fiction book (2002) -
Recently, the blazing purple tourist trolley, the only purple one on the circuit, began idling longer than usual next to the mountain laurel tree across the street.
Fiction book (1990) -
While hiking through the woods, we spotted a beautiful cluster of mountain laurels next to the trail.
-
The garden was adorned with mountain laurels, their glossy leaves glistening in the sunlight against the rich green backdrop.
Synonyms
An evergreen shrub with shiny leaves and white or pink flowers
An evergreen shrub also called mountain laurel, with glossy leaves and white or pink flowers that grows in North America
An evergreen shrub with pretty flowers often called mountain laurel from North America
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'mountain laurel' is directly interpretable as a type of laurel associated with mountains — 'mountain' modifies 'laurel' and the meaning is a laurel plant found in mountainous areas. This noun+noun compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically obvious, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer it denotes a specific kind of laurel.
Etymology
Mountain laurel may come from early settlers who thought the shrub's shiny leaves looked like a classical laurel used for crowns, and it often grew on hills and ridges, the mountain part. So people spoke of 'a laurel of the mountain', which is why the name means this particular hill-growing shrub.
