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bellflower

bellflower

1 7.6
A plant with bell-shaped blue or white flowers
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛlˌflaʊər/
translation icon : campanilla
  • The florist arranged a bouquet that included stunning bellflowers alongside daisies and roses.
  • purple bellflower

Examples

  • I think I want to plant the bellflowers in front of the house today.

  • In the sunny gaps between the trees, butterburs, golden saxifrage, and sweet-flax were more to be seen than the violets, bellflowers, and enchanter's nightshade of the highlands.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Toraji is the Chinese bellflower, native to the mountainous regions of North Korea.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Another botanist had named the thyme-leaved bellflower after him: Linnaea borealis.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • In spring, the garden was filled with beautiful bellflowers that bloomed in shades of blue.

  • As I walked through the meadow, I admired the delicate bellflowers swaying gently in the breeze.

Synonyms

campanula
vsbellflower
  • Specialized
9.6

A garden plant with blue or white bell-shaped flowers

refers to any of several species within that genus rather than one plant

Compounds

A family of flowering plants that includes bellflowers and lobelia

A tall plant with bell-shaped blue or purple flowers

A plant that lives for many years and has dense clusters of bell-shaped blue or white flowers

A garden plant with blue bell-shaped flowers that spreads underground

marsh bellflower
  • Specialized
8.8

A small white bell-shaped flower with narrow leaves that grows in marshes

A plant that grows in European woods with blue-purple bell-shaped flowers once used for sore throats

A plant with blue bell-shaped flowers whose root and leaves are edible

A North American plant with tall stems of blue or white bell-shaped flowers

Plant that lives many years, grows in clumps and sends out stems with blue or white bell-shaped flowers

tussock bellflower
  • Specialized
9.4

A plant that lives many years and grows in clumps with blue or white bell-shaped flowers

Surface Forms

bellflower singular
bellflowers plural

Morphology

bellflower = bell + flower (transparent) = bell + flower

The word is a direct compound whose meaning (a flower shaped like a bell) is obvious from its parts.

Etymology

Bellflower comes from the simple parts bell and flower because the plant's blooms look like small hanging bells. Its botanical name Campanula also means 'little bell', so the name helps you remember that the flowers are bell-shaped.