hi·bis·cus

(hī-bĭs′kəs)

Any of various chiefly tropical shrubs or trees of the genus Hibiscus of the mallow family, having large, showy, variously colored flowers with numerous stamens united into a tube surrounding the style.

[New Latin Hibīscus, genus name, from Late Latin hibīscus, variant of Latin hibīscum, marsh mallow, perhaps of Celtic origin.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hibiscus

(haɪˈbɪskəs)

n, pl -cuses

(Plants) any plant of the chiefly tropical and subtropical malvaceous genus Hibiscus, esp H. rosa-sinensis, cultivated for its large brightly coloured flowers

[C18: from Latin, from Greek hibiskos marsh mallow]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hi•bis•cus

(haɪˈbɪs kəs, hɪ-)

n., pl. -cus•es.

1. Also called China rose. a woody plant, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, of the mallow family, having large, showy flowers.

2. any of numerous other plants, shrubs, or trees of the genus Hibiscus

[1700–10; < New Latin, Latin < Greek hibískos mallow]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

hibiscus - any plant of the genus Hibiscus

mallow - any of various plants of the family Malvaceae

genus Hibiscus - large genus of tropical and subtropical herbs and shrubs and trees often grown as ornamentals for their profusion of large flowers in a variety of colors

bimli, bimli hemp, Bombay hemp, Hibiscus cannabinus, kanaf, kenaf, Indian hemp, deccan hemp - valuable fiber plant of East Indies now widespread in cultivation

blue mahoe, Cuban bast, Hibiscus elatus, mahagua, mahoe, majagua - erect forest tree of Cuba and Jamaica having variably hairy leaves and orange-yellow or orange-red flowers; yields a moderately dense timber for cabinetwork and gunstocks

Hibiscus heterophyllus, sorrel tree - Australian tree with acid foliage

common rose mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos, rose mallow, swamp mallow, swamp rose mallow - showy shrub of salt marshes of the eastern United States having large rose-colored flowers

Confederate rose, Confederate rose mallow, cotton rose, Hibiscus mutabilis - Chinese shrub or small tree having white or pink flowers becoming deep red at night; widely cultivated; naturalized in southeastern United States

Chinese hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Rose of China, shoe black, shoeblack plant, China rose - large showy Asiatic shrub or small tree having large single or double red to deep-red flowers

Hibiscus sabdariffa, Jamaica sorrel, red sorrel, roselle, rozelle, sorrel - East Indian sparsely prickly annual herb or perennial subshrub widely cultivated for its fleshy calyxes used in tarts and jelly and for its bast fiber

Hibiscus syriacus, rose of Sharon - Asiatic shrub or small shrubby tree having showy bell-shaped rose or purple or white flowers and usually three-lobed leaves; widely cultivated in temperate North America and Europe

balibago, Hibiscus tiliaceus, mahagua, mahoe, majagua, purau - shrubby tree widely distributed along tropical shores; yields a light tough wood used for canoe outriggers and a fiber used for cordage and caulk; often cultivated for ornament

bladder ketmia, flower-of-an-hour, flowers-of-an-hour, Hibiscus trionum, black-eyed Susan - annual weedy herb with ephemeral yellow purple-eyed flowers; Old World tropics; naturalized as a weed in North America

Translations

خِطْمي، خُبّيزَه

ibišek

hawaiiblomsthibiscus

Hibiskus

hibiscus

hibiscus

læknakólfur

ibisco

hibiskus

ibištek

amber çiçeği

木槿芙蓉

hibiscus

[hɪˈbɪskəs] N (hibiscuses (pl)) → hibisco m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hibiscus

[hɪˈbɪskəs] n → hibiscus m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hibiscus

n → Hibiskus m, → Eibisch m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

hibiscus

[hɪˈbɪskəs] n → ibisco

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

hibiscus

(hiˈbiskəs) noun

a tropical plant with brightly-coloured flowers.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Hair of cloud o'er face of flower, Nodding plumes where she alights, In the white hibiscus bower She lingers through the soft spring nights -- Nights too short, though wearing late Till the mimosa days are born.

There is the pool, the flowers as of old, There the hibiscus at the gates of gold, And there the willows round the palace rise.

View in context

She pretended that she was making a flower-bed, and she stuck big scarlet hibiscus blossoms into little heaps of earth, all the time growing more and more angry and muttering to herself the things she would say and the names she would call Saidie when she returned.

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A straight, dry, and partly decayed stick of the Hibiscus, about six feet in length, and half as many inches in diameter, with a small, bit of wood not more than a foot long, and scarcely an inch wide, is as invariably to be met with in every house in Typee as a box of lucifer matches in the corner of a kitchen cupboard at home.

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Came the sound of paddles, and, next, emerging into the lantern's area of light, the high, black bow of a war canoe, curved like a gondola, inlaid with silvery-glistening mother-of-pearl; the long lean length of the canoe which was without outrigger; the shining eyes and the black-shining bodies of the stark blacks who knelt in the bottom and paddled; Ishikola, the old chief, squatting amidships and not paddling, an unlighted, empty-bowled, short-stemmed clay pipe upside-down between his toothless gums; and, in the stern, as coxswain, the dandy, all nakedness of blackness, all whiteness of decoration, save for the pig's tail in one ear and the scarlet hibiscus that still flamed over the other ear.

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A peculiarly white and very light wood (the Hibiscus tiliareus) is alone used for this purpose: it is the same which serves for poles to carry any burden, and for the floating out-riggers to their canoes.

View in context

In the various smaller holes he carried such things as empty rifle cartridges, horseshoe nails, copper screws, pieces of string, braids of sennit, strips of green leaf, and, in the cool of the day, scarlet hibiscus flowers.

View in context

But the crash of a tall vase filled with crimson hibiscus blossoms left him speechless.

View in context

Soon after the establishment of the new Southeast Asian nation, Malaysia adopted the hibiscus rosa-sinesis as its 'Bunga Raya' which translates to 'celebratory flower' to reflect the celebration of unity in a multicultural nation.

Google dedicates 'Bunga Raya'-inspired doodle design to celebrate Merdeka Day

They remain reasonably popular, especially among newer gardeners who have yet to discover the rewards of subtlety, but the tropical hibiscus can break your heart.

The sultry, tropical houseplant will break your heart

A subsea pipeline, connecting the new well to Hibiscus' Anasuria floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) is expected to be installed by the end of September.

Pipeline to be installed; Oil and gas: Part of vision to revitalise Ithaca's Cook field in the North Sea

Hibiscus Petroleum's wholly-owned subsidiary, Oceania Hibiscus Sdn Bhd holds 11.7% equity interest in 3D Oil.

Hibiscus Petroleum Secures an Option to Participate in the VIC/P74 Exploration Permit in Australia