rose

plural roses

1. countableuncountableA shrub of the genus Rosa, with red, pink, white or yellow flowers.
2. countableuncountableA flower of the rose plant.

   1794, Robert Burns, "A Red, Red Rose:" O my Luve's like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in june...

   2 more examples

   Iu. 'Tis but thy name that is my Enemy: Thou art thy ſelfe... What's in a name? That which we call a Roſe, By any other word would ſmell as ſweete...

   c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

   Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.

   1913, Gertrude Stein, Sacred Emily

3. countableuncountableA plant or species in the rose family. (Rosaceae)
4. countableuncountableSomething resembling a rose flower, such as a compass rose.
5. countableuncountablemathematicsA bouquet of circles.
6. countableuncountablegovernmentThe rose flower, usually depicted with five petals, five barbs, and a circular seed.
7. countableuncountablegovernmentA nontraditional tincture in Canadian heraldry, corresponding to pink.
8. countableuncountableA purplish-red or pink color, the color of some rose flowers.
9. countableuncountableA round nozzle for a sprinkling can or hose.
10. countableuncountableThe usually circular base of a light socket in the ceiling, from which the fitting or chandelier is suspended.
11. countableuncountableAny of various large, red-bodied, papilionid butterflies of the genus Pachliopta.
12. countableuncountablemathematicsAny of various flower-like polar graphs of sinusoids or their squares.
13. countableuncountablegraph theoryA graph with only one vertex.
14. countableuncountableboard gamesA fairy chess piece that can make knight moves in a circular path.

    The rose moves like a knight, but can continue making knight moves so long as there’s a 45-degree rotation between each jump. […] I can’t help but wonder if a full team of roses could even play against each other.

    2018 October 12, aabicus, “My 7 Favorite Fairy Chess Pieces”, in The Daily SPUF

15. countableuncountableA type of sex toy shaped like a rose.

    Me after ignoring all bad reviews on a rose from Shein and it literally starts electrocuting my clih.

present singular third person roses · participle present rosing · participle past rosed · past rosed

1. poetictransitiveTo make rose-colored; to redden or flush.

   A maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty.

   1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]

2. poetictransitiveTo perfume, as with roses.

   the very nape of her white neck Was rosed with indignation

   1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

1. not comparableHaving a purplish-red or pink color; rosy.

1. pastsimple past of rise
2. colloquialnonstandardparticiplepastpast participle of rise

   Here the genius of agriculture seems to have rose above its dawn.

   1805, Cobbett's Political Register, volume 8, page 89

   2 more examples

   Chidley-Mount, Som. on the other ſide of the Parret, oppoſite to Bridgewater, which is ſuppoſed to have roſe from its ruins.

   1775, The Complete Gazetteer of England and Wales […] , volume 1, G. Robinson, and R. Baldwin, page 154

   And, it has often been in the most oppressed of times that human beings have rose up and discovered their greatest potential.

   2006 January 30, Timothy Stagich, Conscious Ascension: The Global Rise of Mankind Out of the Depths of Conflict, Global Leadership Resources, →ISBN, page 86

plural roses

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of rosé.

1. A female given name from Germanic.

   Sentiment hallows the vowels of Delia; /Sweet simplicity breathes from Rose;

   ~1886 William Ernest Henley, A Ballade of Ladies' Names, Gleeson White:Ballades and Rondeaus, Read Books 1887, page 19

   4 more examples

   Celia: Therefore, my sweet Rose, my dear Rose, be merry. Rosalind. From henceforth I will, coz, and devise sports.

   Act I, Scene II

   An aunt had arrived and her name was Rose and you could hear her voice clarion clear above the others, and you could imagine her warm and huge as a hothouse rose, exactly like her name, filling any room she sat in.

   1957, Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine, Avon Books, published 1999, →ISBN, page 248

   Rose Ducton. Rosie Ducton. Philippa Rose Palfrey. A row of books with Rose Ducton on the spine. - - - Rose. It didn't even suit her. It was a name in a catalogue: Peace, Scarlet Wonder, Albertine. She had thought that she had got used to the knowledge that nothing about her was real, not even her name.

   1980, P. D. James, Innocent Blood, Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 170

   Rose Wyckoff holds up three kittens August 10 in a Redding neighborhood that has been destroyed by the Carr Fire.

   2018 August 13, “Massive wildfires scorching California”, in CNN, archived from the original on 11 May 2026

2. A surname from Middle English.

   While recording, Rose said, a female passerby “encouraged her to speak with Nicholas, so she...rang his front doorbell.”

   2024 December 6, “Battery Charge For Racist Nick Fuentes”, in The Smoking Gun, archived from the original on 11 Feb 2025

3. A number of places in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Rock County, Nebraska.
   2. A town and hamlet therein, in Wayne County, New York.
   3. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Mayes County, Oklahoma.
   4. A town in Waushara County, Wisconsin.
   5. A number of townships, including in Illinois, Michigan (2), Ohio and Pennsylvania, listed under Rose Township.
4. A community in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
5. A hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW7754).

plural Roses

1. IrelandinformalA regional contestant in the annual Rose of Tralee contest.
2. IrelandinformalThe winner of that year's contest.