rose

Less common meanings

7. 7
   plant familynouncountable or uncountable

   Loosely, any plant of the rose family, Rosaceae, or a plant that looks like a rose, mostly in compound names.

   The guelder rose in our hedge is really a viburnum, not a true rose at all.

   In midwinter the Christmas rose bears white flowers even when snow covers the beds.

8. 8
   went upverbnonstandard

   Past participle of rise. Nonstandard and colloquial; the standard form is risen.

   By dawn the floodwaters had rose well past the old marker.

   He said the bread had rose overnight in the warm kitchen.

   Note

   The simple past doing the participle's job. The form has a long history in print, though. The Complete Gazetteer of England and Wales (1775) and Cobbett's Political Register (1805) print "to have rose" without apology. Timothy Stagich's Conscious Ascension, a 21st-century book, still writes "have rose up." Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

   • Rose is the simple past of rise and also occurs as its past participle. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Complete Gazetteer of England and Wales was published in 1775. historicengland.org.uk
   • The Gazetteer contains 'to have rose', establishing an eighteenth-century printed example. en.wiktionary.org
   • Volume 8 of Cobbett's Political Register dates from 1805. books.google.cd
   • Cobbett's Political Register contains 'to have rose'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Timothy Stagich wrote Conscious Ascension, which appeared in the twenty-first century. en.wiktionary.org
   • Conscious Ascension contains 'have rose up'. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   spray nozzlenouncountable or uncountable

   A round, perforated nozzle on a watering can or hose that breaks the flow into a fine spray.

   The gardener swapped the coarse rose for a finer one to protect the seedlings.

   A brass rose on the old watering can spread the water evenly over the bed.

   Similarsprinkler

10. 10
    ceiling mountnounUKAustraliacountable or uncountable

    A round decorative piece fixed to a ceiling, from which a light or chandelier often hangs; also, the round fitting there that holds the light's wiring.

    A heavy chandelier hung from the ornate rose in the dining room.

    The decorator matched the ceiling rose to the cornice molding.

    UsageOften called a ceiling rose in full.

11. 11
    reddenverbliterarytransitive

    To make something rose-colored, reddening or flushing it.

    A maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty.

    1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”

    Similarredden, flush, pink

    Oppositeblanch, pale

    Note

    A verb that belongs to poetry rather than everyday speech. Shakespeare's Henry V, written about 1599, pairs it with over: a maid "rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty." Its past form is rosed, which keeps it apart from the past tense of rise: the sun rose, but a blush rosed her cheeks. In prose it sounds deliberately literary, so save it for writing that wants that coloring. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Henry V is by William Shakespeare. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
    • Henry V uses 'rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty' about a maid. folger.edu
    • The past tense of the verb rose is rosed. en.wiktionary.org
    • Rose is the past tense of rise. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    perfumeverbraretransitive

    To fill or scent something with perfume, as with roses.

    Similarperfume, scent

13. 13
    curve (math)nouncountable or uncountable

    Any of various flower-like curves produced by the polar graphs of sinusoids or their squares.

    Plotting r equals sine of three theta produces a rose with three petals.

    Students compared how the rose changed as they doubled the frequency.

    Note

    Polar coordinates produce these curves from equations of the form r = a·cos(kθ) or r = a·sin(kθ), along with their squared versions. The number k governs the petals. In the unsquared forms an odd k gives k petals and an even k gives 2k, so r = sin 3θ has three petals while r = sin 2θ has four. Changing k, rather than a, is what reshapes the flower. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • The stated sine and cosine equations generate rose curves. openstax.org
    • Squaring the sinusoids also produces flower-like polar curves. mathbooks.unl.edu
    • The parameter k controls the petal count. math.fsu.edu
    • This rule applies to the unsquared equations with positive integer k and nonzero a. Squared sinusoids have 2k petals for both odd and even positive integer k. openstax.org
    • The two unsquared examples have three and four petals respectively. mathworld.wolfram.com
    • Changing k changes the flower's shape, whereas changing a scales it. mathbooks.unl.edu
14. 14
    noun

    A red-bodied butterfly of the genus Pachliopta, one of several large swallowtails.
15. 15
    noun

    In mathematics, a space or graph made of loops that all meet at a single point or vertex.
16. 16
    noun

    A fairy chess piece that moves by a series of knight moves following a circular path.