Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The fine powderlike material consisting of pollen grains that is produced by the anthers of seed plants.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A fine yellowish dust or powder produced in the anther of a flower (whence it is discharged when mature), which when magnified is found to consist of separate grains of definite size and shape; the male or fecundating element in flowering plants: the homologue of the microspore in cryptogams. The individual grains are usually single-celled and of a globular or oval form, but they may occasionally be composed of two or several cells, curiously irregular in shape. They are often beautifully ornamented with spines, angles, lines, etc., and while they are very uniform in the same species they often differ widely in different species or families. Pollengrains are usually formed in fours by the division of the contents of mother cells into two parts and these again into two parts. Each grain has two coats, the inner of which is called the intine and the outer the extine. See
pollen-tube . - To cover or dust with pollen; supply with pollen. Tennyson, Voyage of maeldune.
Wiktionary
- n. A fine granular substance produced in flowers. Collective term for pollen grains or microspores produced in the anthers of flowering plants.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. obsolete Fine bran or flour.
- n. (Bot.) The fecundating dustlike cells of the anthers of flowers. See Flower, and
Illust. of Filament.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant
Etymologies
- From Latin pollen ("fine flour"), used by Linnaeus to describe the substance produced in flowers. (Wiktionary)
- Latin, fine flour. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The term pollen jockey is from an animated movie, Bee Movie, where Jerry Seinfeld’s bee character wants to become a pollen jocky, a favorite of my three year old grandson.”
“How about the increase in pollen and ragweed every year?”
Think Progress » Fox Thinks Winter Chill Disproves Global Warming; Experts Disagree
“Like a big wind scoured out the dust and pollen from the valley.”
“•In the spring, this technique also can leave your sheets coated in pollen, says Smith, who says her homeowner's association forbids hanging clothes lines.”
“Finding that the “empathical link existing between human and other living beings” cannot be reliably counted on to spur people to take corrective measures, will they then commission the services of genetic engineers to enable the plants to produce an antidote in pollen form and to release it when needed whether one wants to be cured or not?”
“How few realize the health-giving properties given off by pines, especially when in blossom, when the pollen is prevalent in the air and is inhaled with great benefit, especially by those suffering with pulmonary diseases.”
“The image at the beginning of this post is a picture of pollen from a holly plant.”
“I wanted to throttle every "gee, the pollen is bad this year" commenter.”
“The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called “Bt corn” on bees.”
“Pollen is food for developing larvae and queens, and Bt engineered crops express toxins in pollen as well as fruit and seeds (the edible stuff).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pollen’.
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Up In The Air @ Wordnik
List of words, terms, and phrases pertaining to or referencing anything that lives, traverses, moves in, uses, or otherwise occupies the space above the ground we walk on. Words and phrases contain...
aeroallergen, aerial, aerial mapping, aerial root, aerobe, aerobiology, aerobioscope, aelophilous, anemotropism, anemoclastic, anafront, antitrades and 273 more...
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AGRI - apiculture
acacia, alfalfa, Arbutus unedo, ash content, baker's honey, Banksia menziesii, bee plant, Bell heather, blackberry honey, blend of honeys, blossom honey, borage and 183 more...
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A Galimafrée of Plant Anatomy & Morph...
A hodgepodge, jumble, jambalaya, *gallimaufry, circus and tent revival of plant anatomy and morphology terms and phrases - its a big tent, and no tickets are required.
*array, collecti...naked bud, leaf blade, brochidodromous, serrate, cork cambium, rhizomatous, flower stalk, deciduous sepal, petal, whorl, nectar gland, stamen and 1348 more...
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Down on the Farm
All things farm and agriculture related.
barn, tractor, cow, hay, horse, pig, corn, plough, irrigation, subsidies, crops, plant and 260 more...
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Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
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Itchy
wool, cat dander, ragweed, poison ivy, dust mite, poison oak, nettles, pollen, mosquito bite, chigger, dog dander, pet dander and 39 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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Most of the Nouns from Joanna Newsom'...
meadowlark, sparrow, spree, pharoah, pharisees, comb, meadow, pines, marrow, bones, birches, spires and 95 more...
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the omnibus
preponderance, idioglossia, acumen, heteronym, flux, anacoluthon, metonymy, impetus, constellation, exegesis, revelatory, cloistered and 877 more...
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The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (P)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
pagan, page, pageant, pageboy, pagoda, paisley, paladin, palfrey, paling, pampas grass, pan, panoply and 194 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, P
pellucid, pertain, pampas, prate, pinecone, philistine, pantocrator, papaverine, postmeridian, potlatch, pharology, pinniped and 622 more...
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Words I like
I like these words because I think they flow and sound okay
love, writhe, pulse, live, thank you, breathe, liquify, vanish, stopper, macadamia, jaundiced, Leviathan and 61 more...
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.flora
amaranth, anther, apothecary, birch, bloom, bramble, briar, cedar, clove, currant, thorn, thicket and 63 more...
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A hive for the honey bee
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone ...absconding swarm, afterswarm, alighting board, american foulbrood, apiary, apiculture, apis mellifera, bee blower, bee bread, bee brush, beehive, beeswax and 71 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for pollen.

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