Word of the Day

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

nosegay

\NOHZ-gay\ , noun;

A bunch of odorous and showy flowers; a bouquet; a posy.

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Quotes:

There was the glamour of George Pollexfen's horses, racing under his colours of primrose and violet: the children went to Lissadell races with four horses and postilions, nosegays of primroses and violets pinned to their coats.

-- R. F. Foster, W.B. Yeats: A Life, Vol. 1

Fussing about in black smalls, silks, buckles, cocked hat, and always with a prodigious nosegay, Lowther could not conceivably have been a less romantic character.

-- Kenneth R. Johnston, The Hidden Wordsworth

The country is one big nosegay, the scents wonderful.

-- W. Morris,

Origin:

Nosegay is nose and gay joined together to mean "something bright and showy that one holds to the nose."