blossom

The flowering part of a plant or tree that will form the seeds or fruit is called a blossom and synonyms include bloom and flower. The noun can also refer to the state of such flowering. You shouldn't miss cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C.

As a verb, blossom means to produce flowers. Your favorite time of year may be spring, when all the trees blossom and the air is perfumed with their scent. The verb blossom also means to begin to flourish and develop. If you are a teenager, you might be waiting to blossom and feel confident in your personality and grow into your gangly limbs.

Definitions of blossom
  1. noun
    reproductive organ of angiosperm plants especially one having showy or colorful parts
    synonyms: bloom, flower
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    types:
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    floret, floweret
    a diminutive flower (especially one that is part of a composite flower)
    apetalous flower
    flower having no petals
    inflorescence
    the flowering part of a plant or arrangement of flowers on a stalk
    ray floret, ray flower
    small flower with a flat strap-shaped corolla usually occupying the peripheral rings of a composite flower
    bud
    a partially opened flower
    chrysanthemum
    the flower of a chrysanthemum plant
    flower head
    a shortened compact cluster of flowers so arranged that the whole gives the effect of a single flower as in clover or members of the family Compositae
    ament, catkin
    a cylindrical spikelike inflorescence
    rosebud
    the bud of a rose
    umbel
    flat-topped or rounded inflorescence characteristic of the family Umbelliferae in which the individual flower stalks arise from about the same point; youngest flowers are at the center
    corymb
    flat-topped or convex inflorescence in which the individual flower stalks grow upward from various points on the main stem to approximately the same height; outer flowers open first
    flower cluster
    an inflorescence consisting of a cluster of flowers
    cyme
    more or less flat-topped cluster of flowers in which the central or terminal flower opens first
    spike
    (botany) an indeterminate inflorescence bearing sessile flowers on an unbranched axis
    type of:
    reproductive structure
    the parts of a plant involved in its reproduction
  2. verb
    produce or yield flowers
    synonyms: bloom, flower
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    types:
    burst forth, effloresce
    come into or as if into flower
    type of:
    develop
    grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment
  3. verb
    develop or come to a promising stage
    “Youth blossomed into maturity”
    synonyms: blossom forth, blossom out, unfold
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    type of:
    develop
    grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment
  4. noun
    the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
    synonyms: bloom, efflorescence, flower, flush, heyday, peak, prime
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    types:
    golden age
    a time period when some activity or skill was at its peak
    type of:
    period, period of time, time period
    an amount of time
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