Definition of "laurel" []

• A Mediterranean evergreen tree (Laurus nobilis) having aromatic, simple leaves and small blackish berries. Also called bay5, bay laurel, sweet bay. (noun)
• A shrub or tree, such as the mountain laurel, having a similar aroma or leaf shape. (noun)
• A wreath of laurel conferred as a mark of honor in ancient times upon poets, heroes, and victors in athletic contests. Often used in the plural. (noun)
• Honor and glory won for great achievement. Often used in the plural. (noun)
• To crown with laurel. (verb-transitive)

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 laurel tree was his personal emblem, as the word laurel and the Latin version of his name, Laurentius, had the same root."
• "Upon enquiring our way he kindly volunteered to take us across what he called the laurel swamp and the old mill dam: which he said would be impossible without a guide."
• "I do not think the need of revisal of our present scientific classification could be more clearly demonstrated than by the fact that laurels and roses are confused, even by Dr. Lindley, in the mind of his feminine readers; the English word laurel, in the index to his first volume of Ladies 'Botany, referring them to the cherries, under which the common laurel is placed as' Prunus Laurocerasus, 'while the true laurel,' Laurus nobilis, 'must be found in the index of the second volume, under the Latin form' Laurus. '"