red-hot poker
- noun
- /ˈrɛdˌhɒt ˈpoʊkər/
- In the summer, the garden was filled with bright flowers, including a tall red-hot poker that stood out with its vibrant spikes.
- red-hot poker
Examples
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For example, our friends at Booker and Dax in NYC use a 1,500-degree red hot poker to make their drink, The French Colombian.
Blog text (6) -
A beautiful red-hot poker bloomed in my backyard, adding a splash of color to the landscape.
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The evil hand grabs a red-hot fireplace poker from the fire.
Fiction book (1992) -
Abigail takes a red-hot poker out of the fire and hands it to Fester.
Fiction book (1991) -
The bee was buzzing around the red-hot poker, attracted by its tubular flowers and bright colors.
Synonyms
A plant that lives for many years with tall spikes of red orange flowers
A garden plant with tall spikes of red or orange flowers
A tall plant with red flower spikes that gardeners grow
A plant with long leaves like grass and tall spikes of red or yellow flowers
A tall garden plant with long grasslike leaves and red or yellow hanging flower spikes
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a metaphorical naming by resemblance: combining 'red-hot' and 'poker' evokes a glowing metal rod, which matches the plant's upright, brightly coloured flower spike. A B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer an object shaped/coloured like a red-hot poker, but recognising that the referent is a specific flowering plant requires extra world knowledge, so the relation is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Red-hot poker got its name because its tall spikes of bright, tube-like flowers look like a red-hot metal poker used to stir a fire, so the name describes the plant's fiery, stick-like flowers.