clover Hear it!

clover Definition

clo·ver (klōvər)

noun

  1. any of a genus (Trifolium) of low-growing plants of the pea family, usually with leaves of three leaflets and small flowers in dense heads
  2. any similar plant of the pea family
  3. this leaf

Etymology: ME < OE clafre, akin to MLowG klāver, Ger klee < IE base *glei-, to stick: see clay

clover Idioms

in clover

living a life of ease and luxury, as cattle in good pasture

clover Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • sow: Grazing with sheep will reduce it, as will sowing clover into an infested pasture.
  • grow: To control weeds, grow clover in the winter in areas where you have no plant cover.
  • find: Alastair found a four leaf clover on the way there.
  • include: We decided to start off with the ' skin purifying ' tea, which includes red clover and nettle leaves?
  • see: I was quite surprised to see clover considered a weed to kill out in lawns.

Adjective modifier

  • White: White clover is an important source of winter food for wildfowl.
  • subterranean: Spring annuals such as the interestingly named subterranean clover are common.
  • Red: Red clover is larger, with dark pink to red flower heads.
  • red: Clearly, the red clover is more than just a pretty flower.
  • white: We've had a lot of white clover in flower on the lawn.

Modifies a noun

  • trifolium: They are particularly characterized by the abundance of rye grass Lolium spp. and white clover Trifolium repens.
  • ley: The farm's switch to organic production means its 700 acres are now all down to white clover grass leys.
  • sward: For two years the land is down to a grass clover sward which is occasionally mown.
  • leaf: You sit underneath a clover leaf trying to comprehend the strange world around you.
  • seed: Clover seeds were not killed by field steaming treatments applied by a mobile field steamer.
  • flower: Biology: White clover flowers from June to September.

Noun used with modifier

  • four-leaf: In some parts of Britain finding a four-leaf clover also heralds the possibility of meeting your true love on the same day.
  • leaf: Alastair found a four leaf clover on the way there.
  • grass: For two years the land is down to a grass clover sward which is occasionally mown.
clover Quotes

This is the voice of high midsummer's heat. The rasping vibrant clamour soars and shrills O'er all the meadowy range of shadeless hills, As if a host of giant cicadae beat The cymbals of their wings with tireless feet, Or brazen grasshoppers with triumphing note From the long swath proclaimed the fate that smote The clover and timothy-tops and meadowsweet.

—Roberts, Sir Charles George Douglas

The Pedigree of Honey Does not concern the Beeö A Clover, any time, to him, Is Aristocracyö

—Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth

Browse dictionary entries near clover

  1. cloven
  2. clove pink
  3. clove hitch
  4. clove
  5. clout
  6. clough
  7. Clouet
  8. cloudy
  9. cloudlet
  10. cloudless
  1. cloverleaf
  2. Clovis I
  3. clown
  4. clown (around)
  5. cloy
  6. cloying
  7. cloze
  8. CLP
  9. CLR
  10. CLU