daisy

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A small common wild flower with white petals around a yellow center, often found on lawns.

   Grammar: Countable: a field of daisies.

   Patterns

   • a daisy chain
   • a field of daisies

   Children picked daisies and made a chain.

   Daisies dotted the lawn after the rain.

   She tucked a daisy behind her ear.

2. 2nouncountable

   Any of many garden plants with a flower head of petals around a central disc, such as the Shasta daisy.

   Grammar: Often with a modifier: Shasta daisy, gerbera daisy.

   Patterns

   • Shasta daisy
   • gerbera daisy

   She planted Shasta daisies along the fence.

   Bright gerbera daisies filled the vase.

   Oxeye daisies bloom in early summer.

3. 3nounidiominformalfigurative

   Used in the phrase fresh as a daisy, meaning looking rested and lively.

   Grammar: Only in the idiom: fresh as a daisy.

   Patterns

   • fresh as a daisy

   After a long sleep she woke fresh as a daisy.

   He arrived at work fresh as a daisy.

   The baby was up at dawn, fresh as a daisy.

Word forms

Common combinations

daisy chain

She made a daisy chain for her sister.

fresh as a daisy

I felt fresh as a daisy after the nap.

wild daisy

A wild daisy grew through the crack.

Shasta daisy

The Shasta daisy flowers all summer.

field of daisies

We lay in a field of daisies.

Synonyms and how they differ

marguerite

Marguerite is the French-derived name for the large white daisy and sounds more formal.

bellis

Bellis is the botanical name for the lawn daisy.

aster

Aster is a related daisy-like flower, usually purple or pink and blooming in autumn.

Word family

daisies noun

plural form

daisy chain noun

a string of linked daisies

daisylike adjective

resembling a daisy

daisy wheel noun

a printing part, now old-fashioned

Commonly confused: daisy or dandelion?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “daisy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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