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Honeysuckle

 - 4 dictionary results

hon⋅ey⋅suck⋅le

[huhn-ee-suhk-uhl]
–noun
any upright or climbing shrub of the genus Diervilla, esp. D. lonicera, cultivated for its fragrant white, yellow, or red tubular flowers.

Origin:
1225–75; ME honiesoukel, equiv. to honisouke (OE hunigsūce; see honey, suck ) + -el -le


hon⋅ey⋅suck⋅led, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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hon·ey·suck·le   (hŭn'ē-sŭk'əl)   
n.  
  1. Any of various shrubs or vines of the genus Lonicera, having opposite leaves, fragrant, usually paired tubular flowers, and small berries.

  2. Any of various similar or related plants.


[Middle English honysoukel, alteration of honisouke, from Old English hunīsūce : hunig, honey + sūcan, to suck; see suck.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

honeysuckle 
c.1265, from O.E. hunigsuge "honey-suck," + dim. suffix -le. So called because "honey" can be sucked from it.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

honeysuckle

any of about 200 species of ornamental shrubs and climbers of the genus Lonicera (family Caprifoliaceae). Honeysuckles are native to temperate zones of both hemispheres, but they also grow in the Himalayas, southern Asia, and North Africa. Honeysuckles flourish in any ordinary garden soil. Most species have two-lipped, fragrant flowers and red, orange, or black berries. Perfoliate, or sweet, honeysuckle (L. caprifolium) is native to Eurasia but has become established in North America. Its clustered, night-blooming, purple-white flowers are pollinated mostly by night-feeding hawk moths because the flower tubes are too long for most other insects to reach the nectar. The fruit is a red-orange berry

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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