Definitions

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

  • noun A small or reduced flower, especially one in a spikelet of a grass or sedge or in a flower head of a plant of the composite family.
  • noun Any of the tight, branched clusters of flower buds that together form a head of cauliflower or broccoli.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small flower in a cluster or in a compact inflorescence, as in the so-called compound flower of the Compositæ, or in the spikelet of grasses.
  • noun A fencing-sword with a button on the point; a foil.
  • noun In silk-manuf., a yarn or floss spun from the first and purest of the waste, and of higher quality than the noil yarn.

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

  • noun (Bot.) A little flower; one of the numerous little flowers which compose the head or anthodium in such flowers as the daisy, thistle, and dandelion.
  • noun obsolete A foil; a blunt sword used in fencing.

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

  • noun A small flower, especially one of a cluster in a composite flower

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

  • noun a diminutive flower (especially one that is part of a composite flower)

Etymologies

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

[Middle English flouret, from Old French florete, diminutive of flor, flower; see flower.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French florete, diminutive of flor

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Examples

  • We can gain a grasp of this wonder of structure from a seed of groundsel or a sparrow's feather picked up in the street; for a spray of plumy meadowsweet or one dandelion floret is a poem in itself, and the sand particle is complex, curiously fashioned and polished.

    The Spring of Joy: A Little Book of Healing 1917

  • Raise the heat to high, pour in the wine and cook 1 minute, then reduce the heat to simmer, cover the pan and cook until a knife is easily inserted into the stem end of a floret.

    Mary Ann Esposito: Ten Thanksgiving Sides Mary Ann Esposito 2011

  • The outermost part is a tough scab-like purple scale, but within is a tumid floret of a highly complex design.

    Country diary: Claxton, Norfolk 2011

  • Remove the floret of the broccoli and used only the stalk part, peal the outer part and slice thin.

    Nena Niessen: The Wonders of Leeks Nena Niessen 2012

  • Remove the floret of the broccoli and used only the stalk part, peal the outer part and slice thin.

    Nena Niessen: The Wonders of Leeks Nena Niessen 2012

  • Raise the heat to high, pour in the wine and cook 1 minute, then reduce the heat to simmer, cover the pan and cook until a knife is easily inserted into the stem end of a floret.

    Mary Ann Esposito: Ten Thanksgiving Sides Mary Ann Esposito 2011

  • Think of how a broccoli floret has the same shape and form as an entire head of broccoli.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • Think of how a broccoli floret has the same shape and form as an entire head of broccoli.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • Think of how a broccoli floret has the same shape and form as an entire head of broccoli.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • However, when you stop eating ketchup with your eggs and start serving an occasional egg (or cauliflower floret) beside your pool of ketchup, it becomes more of a problem.

    Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Ketchup, the Best Condiment (RECIPE) 2010

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