Meaning & use
lamb's ear
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A garden plant with soft, gray-green leaves covered in fine hairs that feel like a lamb's ear.
Grammar: Countable: one lamb's ear, two lamb's ears; the apostrophe is normally kept in writing.
Patterns
- grow lamb's ear
- a clump of lamb's ear
- lamb's ear in the border
She planted lamb's ear along the edge of the path because the leaves are so soft to touch.
Lamb's ear survives dry summers well, so it suits a sunny, sandy bed.
The children kept stroking the lamb's ear and asking why the plant felt furry.
nouncountable
The ear of a young sheep, especially as a food item.
Grammar: Countable and literal here: you can say one lamb's ear or two lamb's ears.
Patterns
- a lamb's ear
- trim the lamb's ears
The butcher gave us the lamb's ears to fry as a cheap snack.
In some kitchens lamb's ears are braised slowly until they are tender.
Word forms
| plural | lamb's ears |
|---|
Common combinations
- soft as a lamb's ear
- The blanket was soft as a lamb's ear against her cheek.
- grow lamb's ear
- They grow lamb's ear in the front garden for its silver leaves.
- a clump of lamb's ear
- A clump of lamb's ear had spread across the gravel.
- lamb's ear leaves
- Rain gathers in the fuzzy lamb's ear leaves.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Stachys
- The scientific genus name; use it in botanical writing, not in ordinary garden talk.
- betony
- A related plant name, but it usually refers to a different species with rougher leaves.
Word family
- lamb noun
- A young sheep; the plant is named after the animal's ear.
Commonly confused: lamb's ear or lamb's ears?
lamb's ear vs lamb's ears
The same plant name in the plural; do not confuse it with the actual ears of a lamb, which is the literal meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses the plant name correctly?
Choose one answer.
The standard plant name keeps the apostrophe before the s: lamb's ear. Option 0 is fine only if you mean several plants, and options 2 and 3 are misspellings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lamb's ear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.