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spiraea |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Spiraea \Spi*r[ae]"a\, n. [L., fr Gr ???, fr ??? a coil.] (Bot.) A genus of shrubs or perennial herbs including the meadowsweet and the hardhack. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Spiraeic \Spi*r[ae]"ic\, a. (Chem.) Of pertaining to or derived from the meadowsweet ({Spir[ae]a}); formerly, designating an acid which is now called salicylic acid. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: May \May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the goddess Maia (Gr. ?), daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury by Jupiter.] 1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days. --Chaucer. 2. The early part or springtime of life. His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak. 3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from their time of blossoming; also the hawthorn. The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash. Plumes that micked the may --Tennyson. 4. The merrymaking of May Day --Tennyson. {Italian may} (Bot.), a shrubby species of {Spir[ae]a} ({S. hypericifolia}) with many clusters of small white flowers along the slender branches. {May apple} (Bot.), the fruit of an American plant ({Podophyllum peltatum}). Also the plant itself (popularly called {mandrake}), which has two lobed leaves, and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic. {May beetle}, {May bug} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the winged state in May They belong to {Melolontha}, and allied genera. Called also {June beetle}. {May Day}, the first day of May -- celebrated in the rustic parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a garland, and by dancing about a May pole. {May dew}, the morning dew of the first day of May to which magical properties were attributed. {May flower} (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May also its blossom. See {Mayflower}, in the vocabulary. {May fly} (Zo["o]l.), any species of {Ephemera}, and allied genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many species appear in May See {Ephemeral fly}, under {Ephemeral}. {May game}, any May-day sport. {May lady}, the queen or lady of May in old May games. {May lily} (Bot.), the lily of the valley ({Convallaria majalis}). {May pole}. See {Maypole} in the Vocabulary. {May queen}, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the sports of May Day {May thorn}, the hawthorn. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: spiraea n 1: a Japanese shrub that resembles members of the genus Spiraea; widely cultivated in many varieties for its dense panicles of flowers in many colors; often forced by florists for Easter blooming [syn: {spirea}, {Astilbe japonica}] 2: any rosaceous plant of the genus Spiraea; has sprays of small white or pink flowers [syn: {spirea}] 3: a dicotyledonous genus of the family Rosaceae [syn: {Spiraea}, {genus Spiraea}]
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