Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A perennial herb (Cardamine pratensis) in the mustard family, native to the northern temperate regions and having pinnate leaves and pink, purple, or sometimes white flowers.
  • noun The ragged robin plant.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In old works, the ragged-robin, Lychnis Flos-cuculi.
  • noun Now, more generally, the lady's-smock, Cardamine pratensis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A species of Cardamine (Cardamine pratensis), or lady's smock. Its leaves are used in salads. Also, the ragged robin (Lychnis Flos-cuculi).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Either of two flowering plants

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a bitter cress of Europe and America
  • noun common perennial native to Europe and western Asia having usually pink flowers with ragged petals
  • noun a bitter cress of Europe and America

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From the association of its time of blooming with the cuckoo's spring call.]

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Examples

  • Further down, below the moor, the laneside verge was bright with lady's-smock, the so-called cuckooflower that blooms when the first cuckoo calls.

    Country Diary: North Derbyshire 2011

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