azalea

American  

[uh-zeyl-yuh] / əˈzeɪl yə /

noun

1. any of numerous shrubs belonging to a particular group (Azalea) of the genus Rhododendron, of the heath family, comprising species with handsome flower clusters of various colors, some of which are familiar in cultivation: the group was formerly the botanical genus Azalea but is now a horticultural classification.

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azalea British  

/ əˈzeɪljə /

noun

1. any ericaceous plant of the group Azalea, formerly a separate genus but now included in the genus Rhododendron: cultivated for their showy pink or purple flowers

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Etymology

Origin of azalea

1750–60; < New Latin < Greek azaléa, noun use of feminine of azaléos dry; so named because it grows in dry soil

Example Sentences

Years ago, whenever an evergreen azalea was transplanted out of a protected nursery area into the garden-to-be, the animals would have at it.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 23, 2022

“I butchered an azalea he told me to prune. He was trying to tell me it’s OK,” Richardson chuckles as she thinks back, “but I saw the veins in his neck were strained.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2022

He even had to take a left-handed swing at the 13th after knocking his ball onto the pine straw behind the green, right up next to an azalea.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 10, 2022

But a 7-iron was too much club at the 155-yard hole and his tee shot sailed well over the green, landing near an azalea bush before rebounding into a bunker behind the small 12th green.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2022

The picnic was drenched out of existence by a freezing rain, and there wasn’t an open blossom on the azalea trees.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck