Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several herbs of the genus Digitalis, especially D. purpurea of Europe and northern Africa, having a long cluster of large, tubular, pinkish-purple flowers and leaves that are the source of the drug digitalis.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A common ornamental flowering plant of gardens, Digitalis purpurea, a native of Europe, where it is found in hilly and especially rocky subalpine localities.
- noun The name in Jamaica of species of Phytolacca.
- noun One of several plants of other genera.
- noun The pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- noun The trumpet-creeper, Campsis radicans.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Digitalis. The common English foxglove (
Digitalis purpurea ) is a handsome perennial or biennial plant, whose leaves are used as a powerful medicine, both as a sedative and diuretic. Seedigitalis .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun botany Digitalis, a
genus of about 20 species ofherbaceous biennials native to theOld World , certain of which are prized for their showy flowers. The drugdigitalis ordigoxin was first isolated from the plant.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of several plants of the genus Digitalis
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I love columbine and foxglove is one of my favourite wild flowers.
Botanical Gardens, Experimental Farm, Ottawa « Mudpuddle 2009
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The name foxglove is a corruption of the term folk’s glove, meaning the wee folk, one of the many monikers given to the fairies over the ages.
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The foxglove, which is guilty of only sly, petty larceny, wears not the equivalent of the striped suit and the shaved head; nor does the mistletoe, which steals crude food from the tree, but still digests it itself, and is therefore only a dingy yellowish green.
Wild Flowers Worth Knowing Neltje Blanchan 1891
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Brangwyn's clever treatment of zoölogical and botanical detail is well shown in flowers in the foreground, such as foxglove and freesia, and the graceful forms of a pair of pinkish flamingoes.
The Art of the Exposition Eugen Neuhaus 1921
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During our ride we found also a yellow kind of foxglove, and some pretty little wild flowers.
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Other plants, such as foxglove or the opium poppy, can have strong effects in humans if the whole plant is eaten, or a simple tea is prepared from them.
Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2009
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That goes for the author of this headline, too. foxglove
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Note—Peg told me that several days ago the queen miscarried; they eased her pain with mugwort and foxglove, and she is now recovering.
Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011
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I think the water droplets on the foxglove are well balanced!!!!!
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A WildLands Seed Team collects and catalogs plants with names like blazing star, orange puccoon, squaw weed and eared false foxglove.
Pam Grout: The Little Hope For The Prairie Pam Grout 2011
treeseed commented on the word foxglove
Name from "folks glove"...The Folk being a respectful term for fairies
February 17, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word foxglove
The name of this flower is straightforwardly from what it looks like: fox + glove. It occurs in Old English as foxes glofa and foxes clofe, and c. 1265 as foxesgloue. These clearly show (i) no /l/, and (ii) the /s/ of the genitive distinct from the /s/ of the root 'fox'.
At this time the /l/ was still pronounced in 'folk'. The folk etymology "folks glove" could only be made after the /l/ had been lost.
Its genus Digitalis was recently moved by APG II from family Scrophulariaceae into Plantaginaceae.
July 3, 2008
yarb commented on the word foxglove
I remember my sister eating foxgloves once and having to go to hospital.
July 3, 2008
reesetee commented on the word foxglove
Yikes!
July 4, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word foxglove
I love the idea of foxes wearing little dainty gloves. *cute overload*
July 4, 2008
sionnach commented on the word foxglove
I only wear my gloves on formal occasions, such as when doing laundry or raiding the chicken-coop. Have to maintain deniability, and avoid leaving little incriminating vulpine pawprints.
Obviously, the above paragraph is the work of a malicious hacker. I don't even like tuna of the yard. I am an innocent woodland creature whose good name is being besmirched. It's probably some kind of Sardinian-marsupial yazuka that is out to get me.
Innocent, I tell you!
November 29, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word foxglove
*still loves the idea of foxes wearing little dainty gloves*
November 29, 2008