See Also: Laurel(medicine)
laurel(2)(dictionary)
laurel(1)(dictionary)
laurel(dictionary)
Laurel and Hardy(dictionary)
sheep laurel(encyclopedia)
oil of cherry laurel(medicine)
laurel fever(medicine)
mountain laurel(encyclopedia)
laurel (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)

laurel(1) (iou)



laurel noun & adjective. Also (earlier) laurer. ME.

A. noun.
A tree or shrub of the genus Laurus (family Lauraceae); spec. (more fully bay-laurel) the bay tree, L. nobilis. ME.
collect. sing. & in pl. The foliage of this tree (real or imaginary) as an emblem of victory or of distinction in poetry etc. Esp. reap one's laurels, win one's laurels. LME.
look to one's laurels beware of losing one's pre-eminence. repose on one's laurels, rest on one's laurels, retire on one's laurels cease to strive for further glory.
b. A branch or wreath of this tree (real or imaginary). LME.
c. The dignity of poet laureate. E18-E19.
d. = laurel-green below. E20.
a. Any of various trees and shrubs having leaves resembling those of the bay tree; esp. (more fully common laurel, cherry-laurel) Prunus laurocerasus, an evergreen shrub of the rose family much grown in shrubberies. E17.
Japanese laurel, mountain laurel, spurge laurel, etc.
b. Any of various trees and shrubs of the family Lauraceae, related to the bay-tree. M17.
camphor laurel.
Numismatics. Any of various English gold pieces (esp. those of 20 shillings) on which the monarch's head was figured with a wreath of laurel. E17.
Comb.: laurel-bottle a bottle containing crushed laurel leaves, used by entomologists for killing insects; laurel-cherry = cherry-laurel, sense 3 above; laurel-green noun & adjective (of) the medium green colour of bay tree leaves; laurel magnolia US either of two magnolias, the evergreen Magnolia grandiflora and the sweet bay, M. virginiana; laurel oak US either of two oaks, Quercus laurifolia and Q. imbricaria; laurel-water the water obtained by distillation from the leaves of the cherry-laurel and containing a small proportion of prussic acid.
B. adjective. Crowned or wreathed with laurel; fig. renowned. L16-E17.