milkweed

noun

milk·​weed ˈmilk-ˌwēd 

: any of various plants that secrete latex

especially : any of a genus (Asclepias of the family Apocynaceae, the dogbane family) of erect chiefly perennial herbs with milky juice and umbellate flowers

Illustration of milkweed

Examples of milkweed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And there’s milkweed for the butterflies. —Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2025

Drawing from his Menominee and Mexican background, some of Alegria’s latest creations include wild rice horchata, tres leches blue corn cake, and spring wild rice salad with milkweed. —Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 4 Dec. 2025

Similarly, if native milkweed doesn’t go dormant in time to prompt monarch butterflies to migrate to overwintering sites, the monarchs may be endangered. —Alice Cason, Mercury News, 20 Oct. 2025

Fall is the best time to plant spring-flowering bulbs and native plant seeds that benefit from cold stratification, like milkweed and bee balm. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1592, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing milkweed

• milkweed bug
• milkweed butterfly

Rhymes for milkweed

• accede
• agreed
• airspeed
• alkyd
• bindweed
• chickweed
• concede
• decreed
• duckweed
• exceed
• flaxseed
• impede

Kids Definition

milkweed

noun

milk·​weed ˈmil-ˌkwēd 

: any of various herbs with milky juice and flowers usually in dense clusters

Medical Definition

milkweed

noun

milk·​weed ˈmilk-ˌwēd 

: any of various plants that secrete latex

especially : any plant of the genus Asclepias (family Asclepiadaceae, the milkweed family) including several whose dried roots were formerly used medicinally