clover

IPA/ˈkləʊvə(r)/
KK[klˈovɚ]IPA/ˈkləʊvər/

clover — noun

1. a low-growing wild plant whose thin stems each carry a group of three small roun

1.nounB1
Definition

a low-growing wild plant whose thin stems each carry a group of three small rounded leaves, with round pink, purple, or white flower heads, often planted as food for farm animals or to improve soil quality

Example

Clover grows well in poor soil and feeds cattle and sheep on the farm.

clover as animal feed / pasture crop

Elena found a four-leaf clover near an oak tree and pressed it in her diary.

four-leaf clover = lucky charm

Common collocations
  • grow clover
  • plant clover
  • clover field
  • clover patch
  • clover honey
  • white clover
  • red clover
  • clover leaf
  • four-leaf clover
Synonyms
  • shamrock

    refers specifically to a young clover shoot or a stylised three-leaf symbol representing Ireland; not used for field clover or animal feed

  • trefoil

    a more technical botanical term for any plant with three leaflets, including clover; less common in everyday speech

Usage Note

Uncountable when referring to the plant as a crop or ground cover (e.g., 'fields of clover'). Countable when referring to an individual plant or leaf (e.g., 'a lucky clover').

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Clover, shamrock, trefoil, and alfalfa all refer to plants with divided leaves, but they differ in use and context. Clover is the everyday word for the low-growing plant with three round leaflets, used as animal feed and found in lawns. Shamrock is a cultural term — it refers to a young clover shoot used as the national emblem of Ireland and is rarely used for forage. Trefoil is a botanical term for any plant whose leaves split into three parts; you see it in gardening books more than in conversation. Alfalfa is a different species — taller, with purple flowers — also grown for animal feed but quite unlike creeping clover. For example, a gardener might say 'the clover in my lawn attracts bees,' while an Irish person might say 'I wear a shamrock pin on St. Patrick's Day.'

shamrocktrefoil ↗alfalfa

Common collocations

Nouns

  • clover field
  • clover patch
  • clover leaf
  • clover honey
  • clover seed

Phrases

  • grow clover
  • plant clover
  • feed on clover
  • four-leaf clover

Prepositions

  • patch of clover
  • field of clover

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Clover comes from the Old English word 'clāfre', which is related to similar words in Dutch ('klaver') and German ('Klee'). All of these go back to a shared Germanic ancestor, possibly meaning 'sticky' or 'clinging' — a reference to how the plant spreads densely across the ground.