NECTARY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nectary mean? 

• NECTARY (noun)
  The noun NECTARY has 1 sense:

1. a gland (often a protuberance or depression) that secretes nectar

  Familiarity information: NECTARY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NECTARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gland (often a protuberance or depression) that secretes nectar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

honey gland; nectary

Hypernyms ("nectary" is a kind of...):

plant organ (a functional and structural unit of a plant or fungus)

Derivation:

nectariferous (possessing nectaries)

 Context examples 

Scott Poethig, a plant biologist at Penn, and Aaron Leichty of the University of California, Davis, show that as part of an age-dependent phenomenon in plant development, the acacias develop the traits necessary to feed the ant colony: hollow, swollen thorns to house them; and nectaries and nutrient-rich leaflet tips called Beltian bodies to feed them.

(Between ants and acacias, timing is everything, National Science Foundation)