Definition of "edelweiss" [e•del•weiss]

• An alpine plant (Leontopodium alpinum), native to Europe and having leaves covered with whitish down and small flower heads surrounded by conspicuous whitish bracts. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Jinny, dear, you don't know how hard it is to crowd 'edelweiss' into one syllable until you've tried."
• "Snow-laced massifs vault into a dark-blue sky and green hills cascade to the valleys below, a panoptic of edelweiss and immortality."
• "There were a few older chalets among them, with ancient wood carving over the doors—whittled pinecones and holly sprigs and edelweiss."