holly

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“
"They're heavenly -- look at that red one -- like holly, and that green checked one on the corner.

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun Any of numerous trees or shrubs of the genus Ilex, usually having bright red berries and glossy evergreen leaves with spiny margins.
  2. noun Branches of these plants, traditionally used for Christmas decoration.
  3. noun Any of various similar or related plants.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples

  • The shade of the beech is so dense that grass will not grow beneath it; it gradually kills even holly, which is comparatively flourishing under the oak. —  Grain and Chaff from an English Manor
  • They don't deck their halls with real velvet ribbon or real holly, the music is piped in, and the sales help is cross, but the prices, they all insist, are unbeatably low. —  WASN'T THE GRASS GREENER A Curmudgeon's Fond Memories
  • Sometimes--(in our grave house Observe, this happeneth not But, at times, the evergreen laurel boughs And the holly are all forgot And then! —  In The Yule-Log Glow—Book 3 Christmas Poems from 'round the World
  • And the holly are all forgot! —  In The Yule-Log Glow—Book 3 Christmas Poems from 'round the World
  • "They're heavenly -- look at that red one -- like holly, and that green checked one on the corner. —  You Don't Take Names
 

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Words tagged holly

yaupon · yaupon holly · black drink

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Holly has been looked up 257 times, favorited 4 times, listed 29 times, and commented on once.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English holin, holi, from Old English holen.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English holly, holy, holie; a variant of earlier holin, holyn, later English hollen, now only in dial. use: see hollen and holm.
 

Pronunciations
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/ˈhɑli/
by American Heritage
by dontcry

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