Definitions

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

  • noun A creeping evergreen North American plant (Gaultheria procumbens) in the heath family, having solitary nodding white flowers, aromatic leaves, and spicy edible scarlet berries.
  • noun An oil or flavoring obtained from this plant or certain other plants, such as sweet birch, or produced synthetically.
  • noun Any of several similar or related plants, especially the pipsissewas and plants of the genus Pyrola.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A plant of the genus Pyrola, especially P. minor, the common species in England, where the name is chiefly thus applied. P. rotundifolia is sometimes distinguished as false or pear-leafed wintergreen.
  • noun A plant of the genus Gaultheria, chiefly G. procumbens, the aromatic wintergreen of eastern North America.
  • noun A plant of the genus Chimaphila, especially C. maculata. See spotted wintergreen, below.

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

  • noun (Bot.) A plant which keeps its leaves green through the winter.
  • noun a low perennial primulaceous herb (Trientalis Americana); -- also called star flower.
  • noun a low plant (Polygala paucifolia) with leaves somewhat like those of the wintergreen (Gaultheria), and bearing a few showy, rose-purple blossoms.
  • noun a low evergreen plant (Chimaphila maculata) with ovate, white-spotted leaves.

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

  • noun obsolete Any evergreen plant.
  • noun Any of several evergreen perennials of the genus Pyrola
  • noun A North American creeping evergreen plant, Gaultheria procumbens, having solitary white flowers and aromatic leaves; the checkerberry or teaberry
  • noun The spicy red berries of this plant
  • noun The oil, methyl salicylate, obtained from these berries
  • noun The aroma of the oil, methyl salicylate, however derived.

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

  • noun any of several evergreen perennials of the genus Pyrola
  • noun spicy red berrylike fruit; source of wintergreen oil
  • noun creeping shrub of eastern North America having white bell-shaped flowers followed by spicy red berrylike fruit and shiny aromatic leaves that yield wintergreen oil

Etymologies

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

[Translation of Dutch wintergroen.]

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Examples

  • The one-sided wintergreen is also in blossom, with its little greenish-white flowers all turned in the same direction; it is one of the commonest plants we tread under foot in the forest.

    Rural Hours 1887

  • Dem what had de rheumatism had to take dat lion's tongue or what some peoples calls wintergreen tea en some of de time, dey take pine top en mix wid de herbs to make a complete cure.

    Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves South Carolina Narratives, Part 4 Work Projects Administration

  • The girl takes the money and slips it into the back pocket of her jean shorts, pops a wintergreen Lifesaver from the paper roll in the interior pocket and slips it into her mouth.

    Superlatives Ann Wahlman 2011

  • Some scenes, such as one in which a character gets out of her bath “aslide with wintergreen,” evince an effort to make even these miserable lives picturesque.

    Mercy! 2009

  • However, as a Rotherham season-ticket holder, currently observing the beautiful game across eight lanes of an athletics stadium, I should advise West Ham supporters that they would regret losing the smell of the wintergreen and the roar of the crowd.

    Letters: Haringey has given full support to Spurs to stay in Tottenham 2011

  • “Bet it is just wintergreen, feverfew, and betony, mixed with something sweet—and now he will make a fortune,” Teddy said, reading the account in the Gazette.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • “Bet it is just wintergreen, feverfew, and betony, mixed with something sweet—and now he will make a fortune,” Teddy said, reading the account in the Gazette.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • That February 1972 I turned thirteen, started my period, and kissed a black-haired boy who smelled of wintergreen.

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

  • That February 1972 I turned thirteen, started my period, and kissed a black-haired boy who smelled of wintergreen.

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

  • Some scenes, such as one in which a character gets out of her bath “aslide with wintergreen,” evince an effort to make even these miserable lives picturesque.

    Mercy! 2009

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