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shellflower

American  
[shel-flou-er] / ˈʃɛlˌflaʊ ər /

noun

  1. an eastern Asian plant, Alpinia zerumbet, of the ginger family, having pendulous clusters of fragrant white flowers with variegated markings.

  2. bells of Ireland.

  3. any of several other plants with flowers or parts thought to resemble shells, as those of the genus Tigridia.

Etymology

Origin of shellflower

First recorded in 1835–45; shell + flower

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.