crocus
part of speech
noun (a crocus, crocuses or croci)
meaning for a pupil
1) A small flower that grows from a bulb-like corm and comes up early in spring, often purple, yellow or white, shaped like a cup. tree →
2) A kind of crocus that flowers in autumn gives saffron, a spice made from its red threads. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and nature lessons crocuses are a sign of spring and come up even through snow; they show how plants store food underground. In art and poems they stand for new beginnings. Bees visit them early in the year.
examples
- The first crocuses were peeping through the snow. tree →
- We planted crocus bulbs in the school garden in autumn. tree →
- A bee buzzed into a purple crocus. tree →
- Saffron comes from a special crocus. tree →
- The park lawn was covered in yellow and white crocuses. tree →
- Crocuses close their petals when it is cloudy. tree →
- It was in the early spring, when the crocus and the snowdrop were in full bloom. tree →
note
Plural «crocuses» is usual; «croci» is also correct but rare. Strictly they grow from «corms», not true bulbs. Saffron is very expensive because each flower has only three threads.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «crocus» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.