water lily

noun

Definition of water lily

: 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

When the water temperature hits 80 degrees, the gardeners will add Victoria amazonica to the pool, a tropical water lily whose leaves can grow up to nine feet across. — Alexandra Lange, Curbed, "The exuberant career of the Brazilian designer Roberto Burle Marx brings the oft-overlooked field of landscape architecture to the foreground," 11 June 2019 Manda de Laos: A romantic little restaurant set atop a pond stocked with carp and water lilies. — Hanya Yanagihara, Condé Nast Traveler, "Why Luang Prabang Is the Ideal Southeast Asian City," 20 Nov. 2018 There are a lot of wanna-bes out there (sorry, water lilies and calla lilies!). — Taylor Murphy, House Beautiful, "8 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Lilies," 14 July 2015 According to the brand, consumers are loving the primer's balance between matte and moisture achieved with water lily extract, which is known for its moisturizing and mattifying properties. — Macaela Mackenzie, Allure, "Erborian's New Mattifying Primer Is Sold Out at Sephora One Week After Launching," 26 June 2018 Visitors can also relax in a wooden gazebo that overlooks a picturesque koi pond, planted with water lilies and grasses. — Jill K. Robinson, San Francisco Chronicle, "Santa Barbara serenity abounds in region’s 5 best public gardens," 14 June 2018 The surface of Half Hill Pond is filled with water lilies. — Peter Marteka, courant.com, "Hikers, Are You Up To The Challenge Of These 14 Trails?," 15 May 2018 Later a visitor from the Bonn botanical garden stops by and is stunned to find more than 100 of these tiny water lilies flourishing at Kew. — Richard Conniff, WSJ, "‘The Plant Messiah’ Review: The Miracle Worker," 13 Apr. 2018 Notes include pink grapefruit, anjou pear, and water lily at the top; gardenia, tiare flower, and tuberose at the middle; sandalwood, solar amber, and musk at the base. — Jenna Rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, "What People Really Think Of Kim Kardashian West's New Perfume Crystal Gardenia," 15 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'water lily.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.