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Glite Dictionary
honey gland

honey gland

7.7
A small part of a plant or animal that makes a sweet liquid to attract insects like bees
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : glándula de miel
  • Many flowers have a honey gland at the base of each petal to attract pollinators.

Examples

  • The bee collected nectar from the honey gland hidden inside the blossom.

  • Some plants have a honey gland that secretes nectar.

  • Botanists identified a small honey gland on the underside of the leaf.

  • The honey gland of the flower attracts many bees.

  • Many flowers have a honey gland at the base of each petal to attract pollinators.

  • Botanists identified a small honey gland on the underside of the leaf.

  • Some plants have a honey gland that secretes nectar.

Synonyms

gland
vshoney gland
  • Specialized
108 3.5

A body part that makes and releases chemicals like hormones into the blood or through small tubes

is specialized to make nectar or similar sweet fluids rather than general body secretions
nectary
vshoney gland
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A part of a flower or plant that makes a sweet liquid to attract insects

includes secretion in animals and of similar sweet fluids

Surface Forms

honey gland singular
honey glands plural

Morphology

honey + gland

The compound is plainly compositional: a 'gland' that produces 'honey' or a honey-like secretion. This straightforward noun+noun construction and its close correspondence to the literal meanings of the constituents make the sense easily inferable for a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Honey gland paints a simple picture: a tiny gland that makes sweet, honey-like liquid to feed insects and birds. Because the gland really produces this sweet fluid in some plants and animals, the name means 'a gland that produces sweet liquid'.