flowering

Pluralflowerings (some meanings)

1. 1
   adjective

   Of a plant, producing flowers as part of its growth.

   The nursery specializes in flowering perennials for shaded yards.

   Most flowering trees in the park were planted decades ago.

   Note

   An adjective of kind, not of state: it classifies a plant as one that blooms, whether or not it is in flower right now. It stands only before a noun, as in flowering plants or flowering shrubs, and it does not grade, so nothing is more flowering than another. After a verb the word shifts to the in-bloom adjective, which describes what is open at the moment.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of flower.

   The orchard is flowering ahead of schedule this spring.

   Warm nights kept the jasmine flowering for weeks.

   Note

   The participle carries every use of the verb flower, not only blooming. It can be transitive, meaning decorating something with pictures of flowers. In older English it also described new beer frothing as it fermented gently. As a gerund it names the act itself. When it names a span of time, it has become the noun for a plant's bloom, and before a noun it is the adjective of kind.

3. 3
   adjective

   Currently in bloom; bearing open blossoms.

   The hillside was flowering with wild poppies.

   Their garden was fully flowering by the end of May.

   Similarblooming

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The period during which a plant bears open flowers.

   Beekeepers move their hives to match the flowering of the orchard.

   A late frost cut short the flowering of the cherry trees.

   Similarblooming, blossoming, bloom, blossom

   Note

   Growers use it for a span of time rather than a single event: the flowering of an orchard begins, peaks and ends. Because it names a period, it can be counted, and the plural flowerings covers successive bouts of bloom. It usually takes of plus the plant or crop. Keep it apart from the blossoms themselves: the flowers are what open, and the flowering is when they are open.

5. 5
   nounfigurativelycountable

   The stage at which a person or thing reaches its fullest development or greatest success.

   Historians point to that decade as the flowering of the movement.

   The festival marked the flowering of a new generation of artists.

   Similarheyday, peak, blossoming, flourishing, zenith

   Oppositedecline

   Note

   Here the botanical span is carried over to people, movements and cultures, so the plant's bloom period becomes a golden age. It almost always appears as the flowering of followed by a group, art or era. Its learned near-synonym is floruit, a Latin term for the period when someone was active. Flowering is the warmer word, and it suggests growth reaching its height rather than a bare stretch of dates.

Showing meanings only. Show all 5