Meaning & use
laurel
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
An evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy, pointed leaves, grown in gardens and used in cooking.
Grammar: Countable for plants (two laurels); uncountable for the leaves or material (a sprig of laurel).
Patterns
- a laurel hedge
- a sprig of laurel
A thick laurel hedge hides the garden from the road.
She added a dried laurel leaf to the soup.
The old laurel by the gate has grown taller than the house.
nouncountable
A wreath of laurel leaves worn on the head in ancient times as a sign of victory.
Grammar: Often seen in art or ceremonies: a laurel on the winner's head.
Patterns
- a crown of laurel
- a laurel wreath
The statue shows a poet wearing a laurel on his head.
At the old games, winners received a laurel instead of gold.
The coin shows the emperor crowned with laurel.
nounusually pluralfigurative
Praise or honors won through achievement, usually in the plural.
Grammar: Typically 'laurels', often in the phrase 'rest on your laurels'.
Patterns
- rest on your laurels
- win laurels
The team won new laurels with their third title in a row.
After her first hit single, she refused to rest on her laurels.
He earned his laurels as a young scientist.
Word forms
| plural | laurels |
|---|
Common combinations
- rest on your laurels
- Don't rest on your laurels after one good result.
- laurel wreath
- The champion received a laurel wreath.
- win laurels
- The young swimmer won laurels at the national meet.
- bay laurel
- A bay laurel grows by the kitchen door.
- laurel hedge
- A laurel hedge gives privacy all year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- accolade
- Accolade names a specific award or expression of praise, while laurels suggests the whole body of glory earned.
- honors
- Honors is a neutral word for recognition, whereas laurels carries an image of ancient victory.
- bay
- Bay is a name for the same cooking plant, but laurel is also used for the symbol of victory.
Word family
- laureate noun
- a person honored for achievement, as in Nobel laureate
- laureate adjective
- honored or crowned with laurel
- laurelled adjective
- crowned with laurel, or celebrated for success
Commonly confused: laurel or lauded? laurel or Laurel?
laurel vs lauded
Lauded means praised, while laurel is the plant or the honors themselves.
laurel vs Laurel
With a capital letter it is also a first name.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'laurels' in its figurative sense?
Choose one answer.
Resting on laurels means relaxing after a past success. The other sentences refer to the actual plant.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “laurel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.