clove
/kloʊv/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.91 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A very pungent aromatic spice, the unexpanded flower bud of the clove tree.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A clove tree, of the species Syzygium aromaticum (syn. Caryophyllus aromaticus), native to the Moluccas (Indonesian islands), which produces the spice.
Countable
noun
One of the small bulbs that make up the large, compound bulb in garlic, shallots, or similar plants.
verb
Example Sentences
- "Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6+¹⁄₂ tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. The 'Pathway' points out the etymology of the word cloves; it calls them ' claves or nails.' It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds."
- "By a statute of 9 Hen. VI. it was ordained that the wey of cheese should contain 32 cloves of 7 lbs. each, i.e. 224 lbs., or 2 cwts."
- "clove of garlic, garlic clove, clove of a sea-onion, clove of shallot, cloves of bulbs"
- "[W]e hurried by […] past the meatfaced woman, a butcher's dame, nuzzling thirstily her clove of orange."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kloʊv/
- British English: /kləʊv/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Archaic
- American usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Botany.
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
clove camphor
clove gilliflower
clove gillyflower
clove lilli pilli
clove pink
clove hitch
clove hook