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sweetbrier

sweetbrier

1 9.5
A wild rose with prickly stems, sweet-smelling leaves, pink flowers, and red hips
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : rosa silvestre
  • Children picked the bright red hips from the sweetbrier bushes that dotted the hillside.

Examples

  • Clusters of pink sweetbrier blossoms attract bees and butterflies to this corner of the park.

  • The sweetbrier has beautiful pink flowers that attract many bees.

  • The garden's sweetbrier filled the air with a lovely, subtle fragrance each spring.

  • The sweetbrier bloomed beautifully in the garden.

  • I love the smell of sweetbrier in the summer.

  • In the garden, the sweetbrier's fragrant leaves filled the air with a wonderful scent.

  • During autumn, the sweetbrier produces bright scarlet hips that are appealing to birds.

Synonyms

eglantine
vssweetbrier
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A wild rose with prickly stems, sweet-smelling leaves, pink flowers, and small red fruit

is the same general rose but uses the other botanical name
Rosa eglanteria
vssweetbrier
  • Specialized
9.9

A wild rose with prickly stems, sweet-smelling leaves, bright pink flowers, and red fruit

is the common descriptive name rather than the scientific label
sweetbriar
vssweetbrier
  • UK
9.8

A wild rose with prickly stems, sweet-smelling leaves, pink flowers, and red fruit

is the wild species description without cultivation focus

Surface Forms

sweetbrier singular
sweetbriers plural

Morphology

sweetbrier = sweet + brier (transparent) = sweet + brier

The noun is a straightforward compound meaning a brier (thorny shrub) notable for being sweet-smelling or otherwise 'sweet'.

Etymology

The word sweetbrier combines sweet ('pleasant, fragrant') and brier ('thorny shrub'). So it names a prickly wild rose that is known for its sweet smell and bright red hips.