| English Dictionary |
BIENNIAL
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| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does biennial mean?
• BIENNIAL (noun)
The noun BIENNIAL has 1 sense:
1. (botany) a plant having a life cycle that normally takes two seasons from germination to death to complete; flowering biennials usually bloom and fruit in the second season
Familiarity information: BIENNIAL used as a noun is very rare.
• BIENNIAL (adjective)
The adjective BIENNIAL has 2 senses:
1. having a life cycle lasting two seasons
2. occurring every second year
Familiarity information: BIENNIAL used as an adjective is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
(botany) a plant having a life cycle that normally takes two seasons from germination to death to complete; flowering biennials usually bloom and fruit in the second season
Classified under:
Nouns denoting plants
Hypernyms ("biennial" is a kind of...):
flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)
Domain category:
botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)
Derivation:
biennial (having a life cycle lasting two seasons)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having a life cycle lasting two seasons
Synonyms:
biennial; two-year
Context example:
parsnips and carrots are biennial plants often grown as annuals
Domain category:
botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)
Antonym:
annual (completing its life cycle within a year)
perennial (lasting three seasons or more)
Derivation:
biennial ((botany) a plant having a life cycle that normally takes two seasons from germination to death to complete; flowering biennials usually bloom and fruit in the second season)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Occurring every second year
Synonyms:
biennial; biyearly
Context example:
they met at biennial conventions
Similar:
periodic; periodical (happening or recurring at regular intervals)
Context examples
An oil extracted from the seeds of the plant Oenothera biennis, a North American native biennial branching shrub with small yellow flowers.
(Evening Primrose Oil, NCI Thesaurus)
The researchers, who were studying arsenic-related skin cancer, weighed up levels of lead, manganese and selenium in the blood and measured blood pressure at baseline and at three biennial follow-up examinations.
(Micronutrients can counter lead effects in blood pressure, SciDev.Net)
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