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pansy definition

pansy (pan′zē)

noun pl. pansies -·sies

  1. any of various violets, esp. a popular garden hybrid (Viola tricolor hortensis), with flat, broad, velvety petals in many colors
  2. ☆ Slang an effeminate man; esp., an effeminate male homosexual: often a contemptuous term

Etymology: Fr pensée, a thought < penser, to think < L pensare: see pensive

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

pansy Synonyms

pansy

n.

viola, Viola tricolor hortensis (Latin), pensée (French), heartsease; see flower 2, plant.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

pansy Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • plant: Well - I'll plant a pansy in the pig sty.

Adjective modifier

  • wild: Wild Pansy Viola tricolor The sweet little wild pansy can behave as an annual, biennial or short lived perennial.

Modifies a noun

  • plant: On the subject of flowers, did anyone see us planting over 100 pansy plants in the border near the fence last Friday night.

Noun used with modifier

  • mountain: Although there are fewer herbs in these acid areas, the community is notable for the abundance of mountain pansy.
pansy usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

pansy quotes

Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies, The tufted crow-toe, and pale gessamine, The white pink, and the pansy freaked with jet, The glowing violet, The musk-rose, and the well attir'd woodbine, With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, And every flower that sad embroidery wears: Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed, And daffadillies fill their cups with tears, To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies.

-Milton,John

But there's a tree, of many, one, A single field which I have looked upon, Both of them speak of something that isgone: The pansyat my feet Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream?

-Wordsworth,William

pansy quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"pansy." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/pansy>

APA Style

pansy. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/pansy

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