winter flowering cherry
- noun
- Last summer, with the previous paragraph, I stopped and now resume in a wet and mild winter, with the improbable blossom of a winter-flowering cherry in the foreground of my gaze.
Examples
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The garden was beautiful in winter, especially with the bright pink blooms of the winter flowering cherry tree.
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As the snow fell, the winter flowering cherry stood out with its delicate rose-pink flowers.
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Many homeowners plant the winter flowering cherry for its vibrant winter blossoms that bring color to the cold season.
Synonyms
1
3.6
A tree with showy white or pink blossoms in spring
1
6.9
A tree with small pink or white flowers that blooms in spring
1
5.6
A tree from East Asia with pretty pink or white blossoms in spring
1
9.9
A small tree or large bush from Japan grown for its pink flowers
A small tree or bush from Japan with pink flowers grown for gardens
A small Japanese cherry tree with pale pink flowers often grown in gardens
A decorative tree from East Asia that has clusters of pink or white spring flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a cherry that flowers in winter' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'winter' + 'flowering' + 'cherry' — i.e. a cherry tree/shrub that blooms in winter. This compositional adjective-noun pattern (winter-flowering cherry) is a standard, cross-linguistically common way to describe blooming time, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Winter flowering cherry says exactly what it is: a cherry tree or shrub that flowers in winter. People grow it for its pink blossoms that brighten the garden in cold months, so the name now means a cherry that 'blooms in winter'.