crocus

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various perennial Eurasian herbs of the genus Crocus, having grasslike leaves and showy, variously colored flowers.
2. n. Any of several other plants, such as the autumn crocus.
3. n. A grayish to light reddish purple.
4. n. A dark red powdered variety of iron oxide, Fe₂O₃, used as an abrasive for polishing.
5. n. A coarse, loosely woven material like burlap, once used to make sacks for shipping saffron. See Regional Note at gunnysack.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A plant of the genus Crocus.
2. n. A genus of beautiful iridaceous plants, consisting of many hardy species, some of which are among the commonest ornaments of gardens. They are dwarf herbs, with fibrous-coated corms, and grass-like leaves appearing after the flowers. Crocuses are found chiefly in the middle and southern parts of Europe and the Levant, and are especially abundant in Greece and Asia Minor. Some of the species are vernal and others autumnal. The varieties in cultivation are very numerous, but mostly of vernal species, as these are the earliest of spring flowers. C. sativus yields the saffron of commerce, which consists of the orange stigmas of the flowers.
3. n. Saffron, obtained from plants of the genus Crocus. See saffron.
4. n. A polishing-powder prepared from crystals of sulphate of iron, calcined in crucibles. It is the calcined powder taken from the bottom of the crucible, where the heat is most intense. The powder in the upper part is called rouge. Crocus is of a purple color, is the harder, and is used for ordinary work. Rouge is of a scarlet color, and is used for polishing gold- and silver-work and specula. See colcothar.
5. n. In old chem., a yellowish or reddish impure oxid of some of the metals: as, crocus antimonii or crocus metallorum, an impure oxid of antimony obtained by deflagration of natural sulphid of antimony with saltpeter; crocus Martis, oxid of iron left on heating sulphate of iron to redness in the air; crocus Veneris, red oxid of copper obtained by heating copper in the air.

Wiktionary

1. n. A perennial flowering plant (of the genus Crocus in the Iridaceae family). Saffron is obtained from the stamens of Crocus sativus.
2. n. Any of various similar flowering plants, such as the autumn crocus and prairie crocus.
3. n. chemistry, obsolete A deep yellow powder, the oxide of some metal (especially iron), calcined to a red or deep yellow colour.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) A genus of iridaceous plants, with pretty blossoms rising separately from the bulb or corm. Crocus vernus is one of the earliest of spring-blooming flowers; Crocus sativus produces the saffron, and blossoms in the autumn.
2. n. (Chem.) A deep yellow powder; the oxide of some metal calcined to a red or deep yellow color; esp., the oxide of iron (Crocus of Mars or colcothar) thus produced from salts of iron, and used as a polishing powder.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of numerous low-growing plants of the genus Crocus having slender grasslike leaves and white or yellow or purple flowers; native chiefly to the Mediterranean region but widely cultivated