white rocket
- noun
- UK
:
rúcula blanca
- She identified the wildflower as white rocket during her walk in southern France.
Examples
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The fields were covered with blooming white rocket in early spring.
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Gardeners often mistake white rocket for other members of the cabbage family.
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The white rocket blooms beautifully in spring.
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Many gardeners appreciate the white rocket for its resilience.
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The fields were covered with blooming white rocket in early spring.
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She identified the wildflower as white rocket during her walk in southern France.
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Many gardeners appreciate the white rocket for its resilience.
Synonyms
A small wild plant with white flowers that grows in Mediterranean areas
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'white' (a color) modifies 'rocket' (the salad green/arugula), so 'white rocket' denotes a white-flowered or white variety of the rocket plant. A B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can derive this sense from normal noun-modification patterns common across languages, so the expression is transparent.
Etymology
White rocket probably comes from the plant's small white flowers and from being a wild relative of the salad leaf called rocket. People used white to show the flower colour, so the name points to a wild, white-flowered plant related to the salad rocket.
