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Glite Dictionary
tidy tips

tidy tips

1 9.9
A wildflower in California that lives for one year and has yellow flowers with white tips
  • noun
  • US
: flor de punta ordenada
  • The hills turned gold and white in spring as the tidy tips came into bloom.

Examples

  • Many hikers stopped to take pictures of the tidy tips growing along the trail.

  • I saw a field of tidy tips near San Francisco.

  • Botanists appreciate how tidy tips brighten California’s grasslands with their cheerful flowers.

  • The tidy tips bloom in spring.

  • Many hikers stopped to take pictures of the tidy tips growing along the trail.

  • Botanists appreciate how tidy tips brighten California’s grasslands with their cheerful flowers.

  • The hills turned gold and white in spring as the tidy tips came into bloom.

Synonyms

tidytips
vstidy tips
  • US
1 9.9

A small California wildflower with yellow petals that have white tips

is the species-specific common name rather than a genus-level label
Layia platyglossa
vstidy tips
  • Specialized
9.9

A small wildflower from California with yellow flower heads tipped with white

is the common nontechnical name used for the same flower

Surface Forms

tidy tips singular
tidy tip plural

Morphology

tidy + tip

The phrase combines familiar words ('tidy' + 'tips') and could suggest a visual property (neat or notable tips), so learners might guess it describes an object with distinctive tips. However, the meaning 'a specific California wildflower' as a plant name is not fully derivable from the constituents and requires lexical/botanical knowledge, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Tidy tips gets its name from the flower's neat look: each yellow petal ends in a white tip, so the plant looks like it has neat, tidy tips. That's why the name refers to this small California wildflower.