mule's ears
- noun
- /mjuːlz ɪrz/
- Specialized
:
oreja de mula
- In spring, mule's ears bloom with bright yellow flowers that attract bees and butterflies.
Examples
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The mule's ears plant thrives in sunny meadows.
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We spotted mule's ears growing along the hiking trail in the mountains.
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The leaves of mule's ears are long and pointed, much like the ears of a mule.
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Have you seen the mule's ears blooming this spring?
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In spring, mule's ears bloom with bright yellow flowers that attract bees and butterflies.
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The leaves of mule's ears are long and pointed, much like the ears of a mule.
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We spotted mule's ears growing along the hiking trail in the mountains.
Synonyms
A plant that lives many years with long narrow leaves and large deep yellow flowers in the northwestern United States
Surface Forms
Morphology
mule's + ears
The phrase literally evokes the ears of a mule and the plant name is based on a resemblance (leaves shaped like mule ears), so a learner can partly infer a shape-related sense from the constituents. However, knowing 'mule' and 'ears' alone does not clearly indicate that the referent is a balsamic herb species rather than the animal body part, so the meaning is only partially predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Mule's ears is the name of a plant with very long, pointed leaves. People named it mule's ears because the leaves look like a mule's ears, so the name makes it easy to remember the plant.
