orchid
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kɪd| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
orchid-
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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orchid (ˈɔːkɪd) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| bee orchid burnt-tip orchid fly orchid frog orchid lady orchid lizard orchid man orchid monkey orchid purple-fringed orchid pyramidal orchid scented orchid spider orchid See spotted orchid any terrestrial or epiphytic plant of the family Orchidaceae, often having flowers of unusual shapes and beautiful colours, specialized for pollination by certain insects | |
| [C19: from New Latin Orchideae; see | |
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orchid
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orchid
any of nearly 1,000 genera and more than 22,000 species of attractively flowered plants distributed throughout the world, especially in wet tropics. Orchidaceae is a member of Asparagales, an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants that also includes the asparagus and iris families. The word orchid is derived from the Greek word (orchis) for testicle because of the shape of the root tubers in some species of the genus Orchis. These nonwoody perennial plants are generally terrestrial or epiphytic herbs (i.e., growing on other plants rather than rooted in soil). Those attached to other plants often are vinelike and have a spongy root covering called the velamen that absorbs water from the surrounding air. Most species manufacture their own food, but some live on dead organic material (saprophytic) or are helped to obtain nourishment by a fungus living in their roots
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