Definition of "gladiolus" [gladiolus]

• Botany Any of numerous plants of the genus Gladiolus, native chiefly to tropical and southern Africa and having sword-shaped leaves and showy, variously colored, irregular flowers arranged in one-sided spikes. Also called sword lily. (noun)
• Anatomy The large middle section of the sternum. (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.

• "Neuhauser won the first national bee in 1925, acing the word "gladiolus" - which happened to be a kind of flower his family grew back home in Louisville, Ky."
• "Neuhauser won in 1925 with the word "gladiolus" and Bell won in 1926 with the "cerise," so bee officials placed an arrangement of cerise-colored gladioli at the base of the trophy pedestal onstage."
• "WASHINGTON - Frank Neuhauser, who in 1925 won the first U.S. national spelling bee with the word "gladiolus," has died."