The AI-powered English dictionary
plural irises or iris or irides
(botany) A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ). quotations examples
Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, page 168
(anatomy) The contractile membrane perforated by the pupil, which adjusts to control the amount of light reaching the retina, and which forms the colored portion of the eye (See Iris (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ). examples
(photography, cinematography) A diaphragm used to regulate the size of a hole, especially as a way of controlling the amount of light reaching a lens. examples
(poetic) A rainbow, or other colourful refraction of light. examples
(electronics) A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator. examples
(zoology) The inner circle of an oscillated color spot.
third-person singular simple present irises, present participle irising, simple past and past participle irised
(of an aperture, lens, or door) To open or close in the manner of an iris. examples
(literary) To cause (something) to shine with the colours of the rainbow; to make iridescent. quotations examples
Pure, transparent, glistening in the sun, and irised by a thousand hues, which float and wave and spread in graceful and ceaseless motion on its surface!
1834, Jacob Abbott, chapter 1, in The Corner-Stone, Boston: William Peirce, page 31
The sun as it comes indoors out of spaceHas left a rainbow irising each glass—A refraction, caught then multipliedFrom the crystal tied within our window,
1987, Charles Tomlinson, “Winter Journey”, in The Return, Oxford University Press, page 35