DUSTY MILLER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does dusty miller mean? 

• DUSTY MILLER (noun)
  The noun DUSTY MILLER has 5 senses:

1. shrubby perennial of the Canary Islands having white flowers and leaves and hairy stems covered with dustlike down; sometimes placed in genus Chrysanthemum

2. stiff much-branched perennial of the Mediterranean region having very white woolly stems and leaves

3. a plant having leaves and stems covered with down that resembles dust

4. herb with greyish leaves found along the east coast of North America; used as an ornamental plant

5. an old cottage garden plant of southeastern Europe widely cultivated for its attractive white woolly foliage and showy crimson flowers

  Familiarity information: DUSTY MILLER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DUSTY MILLER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Shrubby perennial of the Canary Islands having white flowers and leaves and hairy stems covered with dustlike down; sometimes placed in genus Chrysanthemum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Chrysanthemum ptarmiciflorum; dusty miller; silver-lace; silver lace; Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum

Hypernyms ("dusty miller" is a kind of...):

composite; composite plant (considered the most highly evolved dicotyledonous plants, characterized by florets arranged in dense heads that resemble single flowers)

Holonyms ("dusty miller" is a member of...):

genus Tanacetum; Tanacetum (a large genus of plants resembling chrysanthemums; comprises some plants often included in other genera especially genus Chrysanthemum)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Stiff much-branched perennial of the Mediterranean region having very white woolly stems and leaves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Cineraria maritima; dusty miller; Senecio cineraria

Hypernyms ("dusty miller" is a kind of...):

bush; shrub (a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems)

Holonyms ("dusty miller" is a member of...):

genus Senecio; Senecio (enormous and diverse cosmopolitan genus of trees and shrubs and vines and herbs including many weeds)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A plant having leaves and stems covered with down that resembles dust

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Centaurea cineraria; Centaurea gymnocarpa; dusty miller

Hypernyms ("dusty miller" is a kind of...):

centaury (any plant of the genus Centaurea)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Herb with greyish leaves found along the east coast of North America; used as an ornamental plant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Artemisia stelleriana; beach wormwood; dusty miller; old woman

Hypernyms ("dusty miller" is a kind of...):

wormwood (any of several low composite herbs of the genera Artemisia or Seriphidium)

Holonyms ("dusty miller" is a member of...):

genus Artemisia (usually aromatic shrubs or herbs of north temperate regions and South Africa and western South America: wormwood; sagebrush; mugwort; tarragon)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An old cottage garden plant of southeastern Europe widely cultivated for its attractive white woolly foliage and showy crimson flowers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

dusty miller; gardener's delight; Lychnis coronaria; mullein pink; rose campion

Hypernyms ("dusty miller" is a kind of...):

catchfly; lychnis (mostly perennial herbs with sticky stems that catch insects; widespread in north temperate zone)

 Context examples 

Lucy and I had both a fight for it with the dusty miller; I know it was a hard fight on my part, and I am quite heroic.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)