pimpernel

/'pimpənel/

Thân thiện

A small pimpernel blooms in the sunny garden.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small plant of the genus Anagallis: A common name for various low-growing, often creeping, herbaceous plants, typically having small, brightly colored flowers.
   • A European herb with edible leaves: Specifically, the scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), a common garden herb with small, star-shaped flowers (often red, blue, or white) and leaves that can be used in salads.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The scarlet pimpernel is a common weed in fields and gardens.
  • She added some young pimpernel leaves to the salad for a peppery flavor.

Advanced Usage

• "Scarlet Pimpernel": This specific term is also the title and nickname from a famous historical novel by Baroness Orczy, referring to a mysterious hero who rescues people during the French Revolution. The name was chosen because the flower is common and inconspicuous, yet vivid, much like the secretive character.
  • He was known by the code name "the Scarlet Pimpernel."

Variants and Related Words

• Scarlet pimpernel (): The most common species, often with orange-red flowers.
• Blue pimpernel ( or ): A species with bright blue flowers.
• Bog pimpernel (): A species that prefers wet, boggy habitats.

Synonyms

• Poor man's weatherglass: A folk name for the scarlet pimpernel, as its flowers close in dull or wet weather.
• Shepherd's clock: Another folk name for the same reason.

Related Phrases

• To be as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel: An idiom based on the novel's character, meaning to be very difficult to find or catch.
  • The fugitive has been as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Học thuật

Noun

1. any of several plants of the genus Anagallis
2. European garden herb with purple-tinged flowers and leaves that are sometimes used for salads

Từ đồng nghĩa

• salad burnet
• burnet bloodwort
• Poterium sanguisorba