noun
a family of flowering plants of the order Caryophyllales
• Syn: ↑Nyctaginaceae, ↑family Nyctaginaceae, ↑Allioniaceae, ↑family Allioniaceae
• Hypernyms: ↑caryophylloid dicot family
• Member Holonyms: ↑Caryophyllales, ↑order Caryophyllales, ↑Chenopodiales, ↑order-Chenopodiales
• Member Meronyms:
↑Nyctaginia, ↑genus Nyctaginia, ↑Abronia, ↑genus Abronia, ↑Allionia, ↑genus Allionia, ↑genus Bougainvillea, ↑Bougainvillaea, ↑genus Bougainvillaea, ↑Mirabilis, ↑genus Mirabilis, ↑Pisonia, ↑genus Pisonia
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noun* * *
the plant family Nyctaginaceae, characterized by chiefly tropical herbaceous plants and shrubs having colored, petallike bracts beneath petalless flowers and winged or grooved dry fruit, and including the bougainvillea and four-o'clock.
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four-o'clock family,
a group of plants of warm regions, but chiefly American, typically having brightly colored tubular calyxes, such as the bougainvillea, four-o'clock, and sand verbena.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.