NECTAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nectar mean? 

• NECTAR (noun)
  The noun NECTAR has 3 senses:

1. a sweet liquid secretion that is attractive to pollinators

2. fruit juice especially when undiluted

3. (classical mythology) the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal

  Familiarity information: NECTAR used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NECTAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sweet liquid secretion that is attractive to pollinators

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

secretion (a functionally specialized substance (especially one that is not a waste) released from a gland or cell)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fruit juice especially when undiluted

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

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

fruit crush; fruit juice (drink produced by squeezing or crushing fruit)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(classical mythology) the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

ambrosia; nectar

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

dainty; delicacy; goody; kickshaw; treat (something considered choice to eat)

Domain category:

classical mythology (the system of mythology of the Greeks and Romans together; much of Roman mythology (especially the gods) was borrowed from the Greeks)

Derivation:

nectarous (extremely pleasing to the taste; sweet and fragrant)

 Context examples 

It may contain perfume as well as nectar glands.

(Petal, Food and Drug Administration)

In 2020, you are starting to see that friends, old and new, are the nectar of your life.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The pure air was like nectar.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Mr. Laurence and Aunt March shrugged and smiled at one another when water, lemonade, and coffee were found to be to only sorts of nectar which the three Hebes carried round.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees from flower nectar and other plant fluids.

(Honey, NCI Thesaurus)

For example, orchards surrounded by crop fields or other agricultural landscapes had 55 percent fewer bee species than orchards bordered by natural habitat areas (which provide the insects with shelter, nesting sites and additional sources of pollen and nectar).

(Diverse Bee Communities Best for Apple Orchards, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Plants have circadian rhythms that help them tell the time of day, preparing plants for photosynthesis prior to dawn, turning on heat-protection mechanisms before the hottest part of the day, and producing nectar when pollinators are most likely to visit.

(Plants can tell time even without a brain, University of Cambridge)

Arraigned at my own bar, Memory having given her evidence of the hopes, wishes, sentiments I had been cherishing since last night—of the general state of mind in which I had indulged for nearly a fortnight past; Reason having come forward and told, in her own quiet way a plain, unvarnished tale, showing how I had rejected the real, and rabidly devoured the ideal;—I pronounced judgment to this effect:—That a greater fool than Jane Eyre had never breathed the breath of life; that a more fantastic idiot had never surfeited herself on sweet lies, and swallowed poison as if it were nectar.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"Thou shouldst save some for the little friend. Sweets to the sweet, mannling," and Mr. Bhaer offered Jo some, with a look that made her wonder if chocolate was not the nectar drunk by the gods.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

We feasted that evening as on nectar and ambrosia; and not the least delight of the entertainment was the smile of gratification with which our hostess regarded us, as we satisfied our famished appetites on the delicate fare she liberally supplied.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)