- a large white or brightly coloured flower with petals that curl back from the centre. There are many types of lily.
- a vase of lilies
Oxford Collocations DictionaryLily is used before these nouns:- pond
Word OriginOld English lilie, from Latin lilium, from Greek leirion.
Idioms
See lily in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarygild the lily
- to cause something to be less good or beautiful than it already is by trying to improve it
- Some people add a little brandy to the recipe but I feel this is gilding the lily.
Check pronunciation:
lily