poppy
noun
pop·py
| \ ˈpä-pē
\
\
plural poppies
Definition of poppy
1a
: any of a genus (Papaver of the family Papaveraceae, the poppy family) of chiefly annual or perennial herbs with milky juice, showy regular flowers, and capsular fruits including the opium poppy and several forms cultivated as ornamentals
b
: an extract or decoction of poppy used medicinally
2
: a strong reddish orange
Examples of poppy in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Playbill now features gritty, industrial fog and a brave hand holding a bright red ranunculus (though ‘Hadestown’ fans call it a poppy). — Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, "How Playbills became social media must-shares," 15 Aug. 2019 Hoping to turn opium into a better medicine, German scientist Friedrich Serturner extracted a substance from the poppy in the early 1800s. — Jerry Mitchell And Laura Ungar, The Courier-Journal, "Drugs kill more Americans than guns and cars. Kentucky was ground zero from the start," 28 Jan. 2018 Oklahoma’s lawyers presented evidence showing Australian poppy cultivator Tasmanian Alkaloids sold the key ingredient for opioid medications to other manufacturers, including Purdue and Teva. — Jef Feeley, Fortune, "Johnson & Johnson Accused of Dodging Liability for Its Alleged Role in Opioid Epidemic," 15 July 2019 California has long been famed for its natural beauty, from purple sand beaches and bright orange poppies to giant redwoods, but that’s not enough to boost our status as a great place to retire. — Karen D'souza, The Mercury News, "California ranks as one of the worst states to retire, report says," 10 July 2019 Aside from the subtle swipes of poppy across lids, cheeks, and eyes, Hutton's look was largely unfiltered, offering a juxtaposition to the show's graphic, eye-level applications of pigment and glitter. — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, "At 75, Lauren Hutton Hits the Valentino Couture Runway—And Proves Natural Beauty Has No Age Limit," 3 July 2019 Hjermstad pointed out the mustard, rosemary and poppy plants growing there along with plants growing in a fire forest and in vegetable beds. — Ramona Sentinel, "AnomaR guests create their own works of art," 1 July 2019 For production duties, she's enlisted a grab bag of producers, but even Mirwais, who helped keep her career going on Music and Confessions on a Dancefloor, can’t rekindle any of those albums’ sense of fun or poppy concision. — Jonny Coleman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Critic's Notebook: Madonna's Cringe-Worthy 'Madame X'," 14 June 2019 So season 3 has a really healthy dose of poppy, bright levity and cultural fun. — Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, "Who is Alexei From "Stranger Things” Season 3?," 9 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'poppy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for poppy
poppy
noun
English Language Learners Definition of poppy
: a type of plant that has bright red or orange flowers and that is the source of opium
also
: its flower
See the full definition for poppy in the English Language Learners Dictionary
poppy
noun
pop·py
| \ ˈpä-pē
\
\
plural poppies
Kids Definition of poppy
: a plant with a hairy stem and showy usually red, yellow, or white flowers
poppy
noun
pop·py
| \ ˈpäp-ē
\
\
plural poppies
Medical Definition of poppy
: any herb of the genus Papaver (family Papaveraceae, the poppy family)
especially
: opium poppy
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