water lily

noun

: any of various aquatic plants (especially genera Nymphaea and Nuphar of the family Nymphaeaceae, the water-lily family) with floating leaves and usually showy flowers

broadly : an aquatic plant (such as a water hyacinth) with showy flowers

Examples of water lily in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

About an hour away from Kotor is the postcard-perfect Lake Skadar National Park, where hills and water lilies surround the southeastern Europe's largest lake. —Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025

That includes more than 2,000 olive trees, palms, banyans, and other trees — plus over 10,000 plants like cascading ferns, colorful flamingo and water lilies, and flowering orange tulip ginger. —Elizabeth Brownfield, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025

In addition, seasons bring daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, water lilies, roses, holly berries, and so much more. —Amanda Ogle, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2025

The graceful bridge overlooking the water lily ponds has been the setting of thousands of group photos over the years. —Bonnie Gross, Sun Sentinel, 4 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for water lily

• microvilli
• piccadilly
• bacilli
• tranquilly
• billie
• billy
• chilli
• chilly
• dilly
• filly
• frilly
• gillie

Kids Definition

water lily

noun

: any of a family of water plants with rounded floating leaves and usually showy flowers