Definition of "garland" []

• A wreath or festoon, especially one of plaited flowers or leaves, worn on the body or draped as a decoration. (noun)
• A representation of such a wreath or festoon, used as an architectural ornament or heraldic device. (noun)
• A mark of honor or tribute; an accolade: received garlands of praise. (noun)
• Nautical A ring or collar of rope used to hoist spars or prevent fraying. (noun)
• An anthology, as of ballads or poems. (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.

• "The term garland was also technically used to signify a crown of precious metal, often adorned with gems, made for the arrangement of natural or artificial flowers before the altar or sacred image at festival times."
• "The beach garland is sunburned, a silt shopworn, hot, as well as full of waste -- no place for upon foot barefoot."
• "Her garland is tangled in a string of pearls and her father is aghast as she snaps the string and "amid a shower of pearls," the flowers fall."