wood lily
1
8.1
- noun
- /wʊd ˈlɪli/
- US
- The wood lily brightens up forest clearings with its vibrant orange-red petals.
Examples
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Gardeners value the wood lily for its striking, purple-speckled flowers.
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The wood lily blooms in late spring.
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During our hike, we spotted a rare wood lily growing near the trail.
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Have you seen a wood lily in the wild?
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During our hike, we spotted a rare wood lily growing near the trail.
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Gardeners value the wood lily for its striking, purple-speckled flowers.
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The wood lily brightens up forest clearings with its vibrant orange-red petals.
Synonyms
1
9.0
A North American wildflower with orange-red spotted petals that point downward
A wild lily from eastern North America with orange or red flowers spotted purple
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a lily that grows in woodland areas' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'wood' (wooded area) with 'lily' (a flowering plant). This is a straightforward noun–noun compound following a common descriptive pattern, so an average B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Wood lily comes from the simple image of a lily growing in the wood. People saw bright orange, purple-spotted lilies in open spots of the forest and called them wood lilies, so the name now means the orange-red wild lily you find in the 'woods'.