Meaning & use
wisteria
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
A climbing plant with long hanging clusters of purple, blue, or white flowers.
Grammar: Countable when referring to individual plants; uncountable when referring to the plant material or flowers in general.
Patterns
- a wisteria
- wisteria flowers
- climbing wisteria
The wisteria along the garden wall was in full bloom, its purple flowers hanging down like grapes.
They planted wisteria to cover the pergola, but it took several years to flower.
Wisteria needs strong support because its woody vines can become very heavy.
Word forms
| plural | wisterias |
|---|
Common combinations
- wisteria vine
- The wisteria vine had grown so thick that it blocked the sunlight.
- wisteria blooms
- The wisteria blooms attracted bees and butterflies all afternoon.
- climbing wisteria
- Climbing wisteria can quickly cover an old fence.
- prune wisteria
- You should prune wisteria twice a year to keep it under control.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vine
- A general word for any climbing plant; wisteria is a specific type of vine with showy flowers.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'wisteria' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Wisteria is a climbing plant with hanging flower clusters, so it makes sense for it to climb a trellis. The other options describe an animal, a scarf, or a metal, which are not meanings of 'wisteria'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wisteria”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.