from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Ivy \I"vy\, n.; pl. {Ivies}. [AS. [imac]fig; akin to OHG. ebawi,
ebah, G. epheu.] (Bot.)
A plant of the genus {Hedera} ({Hedera helix}), common in
Europe. Its leaves are evergreen, dark, smooth, shining, and
mostly five-pointed; the flowers yellowish and small; the
berries black or yellow. The stem clings to walls and trees
by rootlike fibers.
[1913 Webster]
Direct
The clasping ivy where to climb. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
{American ivy}. (Bot.) See {Virginia creeper}.
{English ivy} (Bot.), a popular name in America for the ivy
proper ({Hedera helix}).
{German ivy} (Bot.), a creeping plant, with smooth, succulent
stems, and fleshy, light-green leaves; a species of
{Senecio} ({Senecio scandens}).
{Ground ivy}. (Bot.) Gill ({Nepeta Glechoma}).
{Ivy bush}. (Bot.) See {Mountain laurel}, under {Mountain}.
{Ivy owl} (Zool.), the barn owl.
{Ivy tod} (Bot.), the ivy plant. --Tennyson.
{Japanese ivy} (Bot.), a climbing plant ({Ampelopsis
tricuspidata}), closely related to the Virginia creeper.
{Poison ivy} (Bot.), an American woody creeper ({Rhus
Toxicodendron}), with trifoliate leaves, and
greenish-white berries. It is exceedingly poisonous to the
touch for most persons.
{To pipe in an ivy leaf}, to console one's self as best one
can. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{West Indian ivy}, a climbing plant of the genus
{Marcgravia}.
[1913 Webster]