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Lily of the valley   /lˈɪli əv ðə vˈæli/   Listen
noun
Lily  n.  (pl. lilies)  
1.
(Bot.) A plant and flower of the genus Lilium, endogenous bulbous plants, having a regular perianth of six colored pieces, six stamens, and a superior three-celled ovary. Note: There are nearly fifty species, all found in the North Temperate zone. Lilium candidum and Lilium longiflorum are the common white lilies of gardens; Lilium Philadelphicum is the wild red lily of the Atlantic States. Lilium Chalcedonicum is supposed to be the "lily of the field" in our Lord's parable; Lilium auratum is the great gold-banded lily of Japan.
2.
(Bot.) A name given to handsome flowering plants of several genera, having some resemblance in color or form to a true lily, as Pancratium, Crinum, Amaryllis, Nerine, etc.
3.
That end of a compass needle which should point to the north; so called as often ornamented with the figure of a lily or fleur-de-lis. "But sailing further, it veers its lily to the west."
4.
(Auction Bridge) A royal spade; usually in pl. See Royal spade, below.
African lily (Bot.), the blue-flowered Agapanthus umbellatus.
Atamasco lily (Bot.), a plant of the genus Zephyranthes (Zephyranthes Atamasco), having a white and pink funnelform perianth, with six petal-like divisions resembling those of a lily.
Blackberry lily (Bot.), the Pardanthus Chinensis, the black seeds of which form a dense mass like a blackberry.
Bourbon lily (Bot.), Lilium candidum.
Butterfly lily. (Bot.) Same as Mariposa lily, in the Vocabulary.
Lily beetle (Zool.), a European beetle (Crioceris merdigera) which feeds upon the white lily.
Lily daffodil (Bot.), a plant of the genus Narcissus, and its flower.
Lily encrinite (Paleon.), a fossil encrinite, esp. Encrinus liliiformis. See Encrinite.
Lily hyacinth (Bot.), a plant of the genus Hyacinthus.
Lily iron, a kind of harpoon with a detachable head of peculiar shape, used in capturing swordfish.
Lily of the valley (Bot.), a low perennial herb (Convallaria majalis), having a raceme of nodding, fragrant, white flowers.
Lily pad, the large floating leaf of the water lily. (U. S.)
Tiger lily (Bot.), Lilium tigrinum, the sepals of which are blotched with black.
Turk's-cap lily (Bot.) Lilium Martagon, a red lily with recurved sepals; also, the similar American lily, Lilium superbum.
Water lily (Bot.), the Nymphaea, a plant with floating roundish leaves, and large flowers having many petals, usually white, but sometimes pink, red, blue, or yellow.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Lily of the valley" Quotes from Famous Books



... moss and grass, along which both parties walked together, mingling, but not speaking, proper as could be; except that Vedrine, unable to support these fashionable formalities, scandalised Freydet, who carried his high collar with much gravity, by exclaiming, 'Here's a lily of the valley,' or pulling off a bough, and presently, struck with the contrast between the splendid passivity of nature and the futile activity of man, ejaculated, as he gazed on the great woods that climbed the opposite hill-side, ...
— The Immortal - Or, One Of The "Forty." (L'immortel) - 1877 • Alphonse Daudet
... wood hyacinth, at its best, cannot match even the dark bell-gentian, leaving the light-blue star-gentian in its uncontested queenliness, and the Alpine rose and Highland heather wholly without similitude. The violet, lily of the valley, crocus, and wood anemone are, I suppose, claimable partly by the plains as well as the hills; but the large orange lily and narcissus I have never seen but on hill pastures, and the exquisite oxalis is pre-eminently ...
— English Prose - A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice • Frederick William Roe (edit. and select.)
... 1877 there is another Flower Legend, but of an English plant, the Lily of the Valley. Julie called the tale by the old-fashioned name of the flower, "Ladders to Heaven." The scenery is pictured from spots near her Yorkshire home, where she was accustomed to seeing beautiful valleys blackened by smoke from iron-furnaces, ...
— Juliana Horatia Ewing And Her Books • Horatia K. F. Eden
... lilies of the field, he says, "Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." And the wisest of men, when searching the world over for comparisons worthy of his beloved, exclaims in the fullness of a heart overflowing with love and gratitude, "He is the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley." ...
— The Snow-Drop • Sarah S. Mower
... be believed, we may substitute for the water bath one of steam. He has obtained good results with the lily of the valley. The thing is possible, but the method used by ...
— Three Acres and Liberty • Bolton Hall
... Thirteen The Unconscious Humorists Another Study of Woman The Lily of the Valley Father Goriot Jealousies of a Country Town Ursule Mirouet A Marriage Settlement Lost Illusions Letters of Two Brides The Ball at Sceaux Modeste Mignon The Secrets of a Princess The Gondreville ...
— A Distinguished Provincial at Paris • Honore de Balzac
... stemless perennial plant, found in both the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The flowers are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 • Various
... "That lily of the valley, see, is mamma's idea; and the barberry, answering to it, is mine. That tree in the middle is all Erica's work— entirely; but the squirrel upon it, we never should have thought of. It was papa who put that in our heads; and it is the most original thing in the whole pattern. Erica has worked ...
— Feats on the Fiord - The third book in "The Playfellow" • Harriet Martineau
... Lily of the Valley Cesar Birotteau The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) The Gondreville ...
— The Jealousies of a Country Town • Honore de Balzac
... would be a beautiful red. It would smell like red roses. White cows should have lilacs and lilies of the valley. Yellow cows ought to be fed on daisies and such. Think of the advertising possibilities. 'Try our Rose milk, or Lily of the Valley milk or Daisy milk.' And say, what's the matter with feeding violets to blue cows? Violet brand would of course be the favorite for blonde women, and Rose milk for the brunettes. Make the cow's home surroundings lovely. Don't shut her up in a filthy stall ...
— Mixed Faces • Roy Norton


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