: a single carpel or group of fused carpels usually differentiated into an ovary, style, and stigma see flower illustration
Examples of pistil in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
His creative recipe blends floral gin with honey, lemon juice, dry white apple vermouth, sparkling lemon water, ice cubes and six saffron pistils.
—
Joanne Shurvell, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Additional effects include cross rings, strobing comets, waterfalls, Saturn circles, crackling pistils and special ghost pyro that alternates colors featuring multiple hues, NBC says.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 2 July 2024
Real weed may have orange or reddish pistils protruding from between the leaves.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 26 Aug. 2023
Some new features of this year’s show include a mile-wide waving flag with red, white and blue palm and strobing shells and a sunflower ring with crackling pistil shells.
—Camille Fine, USA TODAY, 3 July 2023
The show will last 25 minutes and feature 30 different colors and shapes, including new effects for this year like a mile-wide waving flag and a sunflower ring with crackling pistil shells.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2023
The pistil of one flower is replaced by the lion's eye.
—Gabi Thorne, Allure, 2 Feb. 2022
The Rose Mantique necklace is a naturalistic expression featuring gold branches dusted with diamonds, colorful petals in garnets, amethysts, rhodolite, and Paraiba tourmalines, and a blue Myanmar sapphire pistil.
—Jill N Newman, Town & Country, 9 July 2021
When the pollen from one tree’s flower meets the pistil of the flower of another, a small miracle of creation occurs.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 8 June 2020
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Joanne Shurvell, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Additional effects include cross rings, strobing comets, waterfalls, Saturn circles, crackling pistils and special ghost pyro that alternates colors featuring multiple hues, NBC says.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 2 July 2024
Real weed may have orange or reddish pistils protruding from between the leaves.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 26 Aug. 2023
Some new features of this year’s show include a mile-wide waving flag with red, white and blue palm and strobing shells and a sunflower ring with crackling pistil shells.
—Camille Fine, USA TODAY, 3 July 2023
The show will last 25 minutes and feature 30 different colors and shapes, including new effects for this year like a mile-wide waving flag and a sunflower ring with crackling pistil shells.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2023
The pistil of one flower is replaced by the lion's eye.
—Gabi Thorne, Allure, 2 Feb. 2022
The Rose Mantique necklace is a naturalistic expression featuring gold branches dusted with diamonds, colorful petals in garnets, amethysts, rhodolite, and Paraiba tourmalines, and a blue Myanmar sapphire pistil.
—Jill N Newman, Town & Country, 9 July 2021
When the pollen from one tree’s flower meets the pistil of the flower of another, a small miracle of creation occurs.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 8 June 2020
Cite this Entry
“Pistil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pistil. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pistil
noun
pis·til
ˈpis-tᵊl 
: the seed-producing part of a flower consisting usually of stigma, style, and ovary
Etymology
from scientific Latin pistillum "pistil," from Latin pistillum "pestle for grinding material in a mortar"
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