Adjacent Words

Heather definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HE'ATHER, n. Heath.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: common Old World heath represented by many varieties; low evergreen grown widely in the northern hemisphere [syn: heather, ling, Scots heather, broom, Calluna vulgaris]
2: interwoven yarns of mixed colors producing muted greyish shades with flecks of color [syn: heather mixture, heather]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English (northern) hather Date: 14th century heath 2a; especially a common Eurasian heath (Calluna vulgaris) of northern and alpine regions that has small crowded sessile leaves and racemes of tiny usually purplish-pink flowers and is naturalized in the northeastern United States II. adjective Date: 1615 heathery

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 an evergreen shrub, Calluna vulgaris, with purple bell-shaped flowers. 2 any of various shrubs of the genus Erica or Daboecia, growing esp. on moors and heaths. Phrases and idioms: heather mixture 1 a fabric of mixed hues supposed to resemble heather. 2 the colour of this. Derivatives: heathery adj. Etymology: ME, Sc., & N.Engl. hathir etc., of unkn. orig.: assim. to heath

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Heath Heath, n. [OE. heth waste land, the plant heath, AS. h??; akin to D. & G. heide, Icel. hei?r waste land, Dan. hede, Sw. hed, Goth. haipi field, L. bucetum a cow pasture; cf. W. coed a wood, Skr. ksh?tra field. [root]20.] 1. (Bot.) (a) A low shrub (Erica, or Calluna, vulgaris), with minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of pink flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It is also called heather, and ling. (b) Also, any species of the genus Erica, of which several are European, and many more are South African, some of great beauty. See Illust. of Heather. 2. A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage. Their stately growth, though bare, Stands on the blasted heath. --Milton Heath cock (Zo["o]l.), the blackcock. See Heath grouse (below). Heath grass (Bot.), a kind of perennial grass, of the genus Triodia (T. decumbens), growing on dry heaths. Heath grouse, or Heath game (Zo["o]l.), a European grouse (Tetrao tetrix), which inhabits heats; -- called also black game, black grouse, heath poult, heath fowl, moor fowl. The male is called, heath cock, and blackcock; the female, heath hen, and gray hen. Heath hen. (Zo["o]l.) See Heath grouse (above). Heath pea (bot.), a species of bitter vetch (Lathyris macrorhizus), the tubers of which are eaten, and in Scotland are used to flavor whisky. Heath throstle (Zo["o]l.), a European thrush which frequents heaths; the ring ouzel.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Heather Heath"er (?; 277. This is the only pronunciation in Scotland), n. [See Heath.] Heath. [Scot.] Gorse and grass And heather, where his footsteps pass, The brighter seem. --Longfellow. Heather bell (Bot.), one of the pretty subglobose flowers of two European kinds of heather (Erica Tetralix, and E. cinerea).

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Heather is a low, spreading plant with small purple, pink, or white flowers. Heather grows wild in Europe on high land with poor soil.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Heath, ling (Calluna vulgaris).