Definition

1. Noun:

   • A plant's reproductive structure: The part of a seed-bearing plant, often colorful and fragrant, that produces seeds or fruit after fertilization.
   • The state or period of flowering: The time when a plant is in bloom.
   • The finest or most perfect part or example of something: The peak or most excellent stage or representative of a group.

2. Verb:

   • To produce flowers; to bloom: To reach the stage in a plant's life cycle where it develops and opens its flowers.
   • To develop fully; to flourish: To reach a peak state of development, success, or beauty.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • She received a beautiful red flower for her birthday.
  • The cherry trees are in flower every spring.
  • He was considered the flower of his generation of artists.

• Verb:

  • These plants will flower in late summer.
  • Her artistic talents flowered during her years in Paris.

Advanced Usage

• "In flower": Describing a plant that is currently blooming.

  • The garden is spectacular when all the roses are in flower.

• "The flower of (something)": Referring to the best or choicest part of a group, often youth.

  • The regiment was composed of the flower of the nation's young men.

Variants and Related Words

• Flowered (adj.): Decorated with a floral pattern.

  • She wore a flowered dress to the party.

• Flowering (n.): The action of producing flowers; also used figuratively for a period of development.

  • The flowering of Renaissance art.
  • This is a late-flowering variety of clematis.

Synonyms

• Noun (bloom): Blossom, bloom.
• Noun (best part): Elite, cream, prime.
• Verb (bloom): Blossom, bloom.
• Verb (flourish): Thrive, prosper, mature.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• "Flower into": To develop or mature into something.
  • The small project flowered into a major international enterprise.

Related Idioms

• "No flowers by request": A phrase used in obituaries to ask that mourners do not send floral tributes.
• "The flower of one's youth": The period of one's greatest vitality and youthful energy.
  • He gave the flower of his youth to the service of his country.

Verb

1. produce or yield flowers
   • The cherry tree bloomed

Noun

1. the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
2. reproductive organ of angiosperm plants especially one having showy or colorful parts
3. a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms