Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of the Liliaceæ, one species of which (A. lurida) from China is a common florists' plant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun an evergreen perennial (Aspidistra elatio) with large handsome basal leaves; grown primarily as a foliage houseplant.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A taxonomic genus within the family Ruscaceae — the aspidistras.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun evergreen perennial with large handsome basal leaves; grown primarily as a foliage houseplant

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The bitterness that reviewers rightly detected in Aspidistra reflected Orwell's desperation as an impecunious and struggling writer, who was too poor to propose to a young woman he had recently fallen in love with.

    Orwell: The Authorized Biography (review) 1992

  • From Burmese Days to Keep the Aspidistra Flying to Animal Farm to 1984 to his great essays, where is the voice of George Orwell?

    Anis Shivani: Voice in Fiction: A Favorite MFA/Writing Program Shibboleth 2010

  • I recently read a fairly obscure George Orwell novel called "Keep the Aspidistra Flying."

    Great Writers, Bad Novels 2010

  • Eli keeps the Aspidistra flying tastes good if you are a bunny

    Rabett Run EliRabett 2009

  • Winston Smith: Is either one of you familiar with an early George Orwell novel called Keep the Aspidistra Flying?

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

  • Extract: Whereas the intellectual Left think George Orwell in 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' once patronised or mythologised the white working class, for years now they have been considered an embarrassment, a low-achieving, boorish, poorly educated affront to the sensibilities of the 'progressive' elite that preached the virtues of multi-culturalism, promoted mass immigration and makes up much of the political establishment, including the modern Labour Party.

    ATTACK! 2009

  • Gordon Comstock, the protagonist of Keep the Aspidistra flying is virtually Winston Smith's Siamese twin brother, except that one inhabits a terrifying universe, the other inhabits a comic or tragi-comic at times, but basically farcial universe.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

  • No one has recorded the miracle better than Orwell in Keep the Aspidistra Flying.

    On being a father 2009

  • No one has recorded the miracle better than Orwell in Keep the Aspidistra Flying.

    Archive 2009-06-01 2009

  • His six-month stay in Hampstead, where he worked part-time in a bookshop while writing Keep the Aspidistra Flying, had already taken in several low-key romantic entanglements, but the seriousness of his intentions towards Eileen produced a whirlwind courtship.

    Another piece of the puzzle 2005

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