false baby's breath
- noun
- /fɔls ˈbeɪbiz brɛθ/
:
hierba de la pipa
- Although false baby's breath is native to Eurasia, it can now be found growing wild in North America.
Examples
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Florists often use false baby's breath as filler in bouquets for its airy appearance.
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The garden was full of false baby's breath, brightening the landscape with its delicate white flowers.
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The garden was filled with false baby's breath this spring.
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Many people love the look of false baby's breath in floral arrangements.
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The garden was full of false baby's breath, brightening the landscape with its delicate white flowers.
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Florists often use false baby's breath as filler in bouquets for its airy appearance.
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Many people love the look of false baby's breath in floral arrangements.
Synonyms
A wild plant with loose groups of small white flowers that grows in Europe and North America
A wild herb from Europe and Asia with small white flowers that grows in meadows
A plant from Europe and Asia with many small white flowers that grows in North America
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'false' clearly signals an imitation or look‑alike, which is transparent, but the core item 'baby's breath' is a conventional plant name whose meaning (a cluster‑flowering herb) is not directly predictable from 'baby' + 'breath'. A B1 learner who knows the words might guess 'not the real baby's breath' but would likely not infer the botanical referent without prior exposure, so the phrase is only partially compositional.
Etymology
False baby's breath gets its name from the plant's look: it has many tiny white flowers like the florist's baby's breath, but the word 'false' shows it is not the same plant. So the name helps you remember that it looks like 'baby's breath' yet is a different herb.
