Meaning & use
clover
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A low plant with leaves in three parts and small round flower heads, often grown as food for farm animals.
Grammar: Uncountable for the crop: a field of clover; countable for kinds: two clovers.
Patterns
- a field of clover
- clover in something
Bees buzzed around the white clover in the lawn.
The farmer planted clover to feed his cattle.
We searched the clover for a lucky four-leaf one.
phraseidiominformalold-fashioned
Used in the idiom in clover to mean living in great comfort or wealth.
Grammar: Fixed with be or live: she is in clover.
Patterns
- be in clover
- live in clover
After the big promotion, they were in clover.
With a job and a new flat, he felt he was in clover.
The retirees lived in clover on a seaside estate.
Word forms
| plural | clovers |
|---|
Common combinations
- field of clover
- A field of clover covered the hill.
- red clover
- Red clover is used for hay.
- white clover
- White clover grows in lawns.
- four-leaf clover
- She found a four-leaf clover.
- clover honey
- I prefer clover honey on toast.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trefoil
- Trefoil is a related three-leafed plant, and the word is more botanical or architectural.
- shamrock
- Shamrock is the clover-like plant that symbolizes Ireland, not the farm crop.
Word family
- cloverleaf noun
- a road junction shaped like a clover leaf
- clovers noun
- plural of clover
- clover-leaf adjective
- shaped like a clover leaf
Commonly confused: clover or clove?
clover vs clove
A clove is a spice or a part of a garlic bulb, while clover is a plant.
Practice
What does the idiom 'to be in clover' mean?
Choose one answer.
In clover means enjoying a comfortable, prosperous life. The other options do not fit the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “clover”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.