Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various tropical shrubs and trees of the genus Gardenia, especially G. jasminoides, native to China, having glossy evergreen leaves and large, fragrant, usually white flowers.
  • noun The flower of any of these plants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of rubiaceous (often spiny) trees and shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope and of tropical Asia and Africa.

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

  • noun (Bot.) A genus of plants, some species of which produce beautiful and fragrant flowers; Cape jasmine; -- so called in honor of Dr. Alexander Garden.

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

  • noun Any of various tropical evergreen small trees or shrubs, of the genus Gardenia, having glossy leaves and white flowers.
  • noun The flower of these plants.

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

  • noun any of various shrubs and small trees of the genus Gardenia having large fragrant white or yellow flowers

Etymologies

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

[New Latin Gardenia, genus name, after Alexander Garden.]

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Examples

  • We identified it on the Australian Caterpillar Website has images of the entire metamorphosis and identifies it as the Gardenia Hawk Moth because the caterpillar feeds on gardenia.

    What's That Bug? 2009

  • In Bloom By Reese Witherspoon — described as a gardenia, magnolia and jasmine scent and priced at $34 a bottle — will debut in November.

    Reese Witherspoon: Avon Press Conference 2009

  • "Dr. Cotton it was who told me, the one who used to live in Tradd Street, he was a relative of Dr. Garden the man that gave his name to that flower they call the gardenia -- had it sent him from somewhere in the South, but

    The Ghost Girl 1907

  • Tiare is a particularly fragrant species of gardenia, which is used for making the traditional Monoi de Tahiti my macerating the flowers into coconut oil.

    Archive 2006-06-01 Ayala Sender 2006

  • A-- a flower that we now know as the gardenia was named in his honor.

    America In So Many Words 1998

  • Rags had at the same time purchased some gardenias for Miss Rolls, she having mentioned that the gardenia was her favourite flower.

    Winnie Childs The Shop Girl 1901

  • Pence won after the ninth round, earlier spelling correctly the words "gardenia," "samaritan,"

    IndyStar.com Top Stories 2010

  • Pence won after the ninth round, earlier spelling correctly the words "gardenia," "samaritan,"

    IndyStar.com Top Stories 2010

  • Tuberose, "gardenia" and jasmine blend together in a blur of white flowers; neither note stands out forcefully (jasmine is most discernible, with a hint of candied 'banana' and citrus).

    Now Smell This 2009

  • Tuberose, "gardenia" and jasmine blend together in a blur of white flowers; neither note stands out forcefully (jasmine is most discernible, with a hint of candied 'banana' and citrus).

    Now Smell This 2009

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