heliotrope
any hairy plant belonging to the genus Heliotropium, of the borage family, as H. arborescens, cultivated for its small, fragrant purple flowers.
any of various other plants, as the valerian or the winter heliotrope.
any plant that turns toward the sun.
a light tint of purple; reddish lavender.
Surveying. an arrangement of mirrors for reflecting sunlight from a distant point to an observation station.
Origin of heliotrope
1Words Nearby heliotrope
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use heliotrope in a sentence
Delicate, refined, perfectly poised, and Kitty beside her like a sunflower to a sprig of heliotrope!
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete | Gilbert ParkerWas this garden, which was all white, in any way connected with the sunbeams and heliotrope?
Scottish Ghost Stories | Elliott O'Donnellheliotrope is the name of the scent, my dear, but please do not allude to it again.
Scottish Ghost Stories | Elliott O'DonnellThe coat, hanging open, displayed a soft shirt of no uncertain shade of heliotrope.
Left Tackle Thayer | Ralph Henry BarbourIt was the heliotrope or Solsequium or Turnesol of our forefathers, and is the flower often alluded to under that name.
The plant-lore and garden-craft of Shakespeare | Henry Nicholson Ellacombe
British Dictionary definitions for heliotrope
/ (ˈhiːlɪəˌtrəʊp, ˈhɛljə-) /
any boraginaceous plant of the genus Heliotropium, esp the South American H. arborescens, cultivated for its small fragrant purple flowers
garden heliotrope a widely cultivated valerian, Valeriana officinalis, with clusters of small pink, purple, or white flowers
any of various plants that turn towards the sun
a bluish-violet to purple colour
(as adjective): a heliotrope dress
an instrument used in geodetic surveying employing the sun's rays reflected by a mirror as a signal for the sighting of stations over long distances
another name for bloodstone
Origin of heliotrope
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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