bachelor's button

noun

: a European composite (Centaurea cyanus) having flower heads with usually blue, pink, or white rays that is often cultivated in North America

called also cornflower

Examples of bachelor's button in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This is the case for all plants in the sunflower family, including daisies, yarrow, goldenrod, asters, coreopsis, and bachelor's buttons. Deb Wiley, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Feb. 2024 Beware, perennial bachelor's button also goes by names like mountain bluet, corn flower, and basket flower, but all are bad news. Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Sep. 2022 Flowers which air dry well include goldenrod, hydrangea, statice, strawflower, celosia, rosebuds, yarrow, globe amaranth, grass plumes, rudbeckia, bachelor's buttons, zinnias and sunflower, to name a few. Dan Gill, NOLA.com, 4 Nov. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bachelor's button was in 1847

Dictionary Entries Near bachelor's button

Cite this Entry

“Bachelor's button.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bachelor%27s%20button. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

bachelor's button

noun
: a European plant related to the daisies and often grown for its showy blue, pink, or white flower heads

called also cornflower

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