lush´ness

lush¹ «luhsh», adjective.

1. tender and juicy; growing thick and green: »

Lush grass grows along the riverbank.

SYNONYM(S): succulent.

2. characterized by abundant growth; producing abundantly: »

As the year Grows lush in juicy stalks (Keats).

3. Figurative. luxurious; abundant: »

the lush life of a millionaire.

4. very rich; too ornamented; flowery; extravagant: »

lush description.

╂[Middle English lache, perhaps imitative variant of Old French lasche lax, soft, succulent (as young shoots) < lascher be careless < Vulgar Latin lascāre weaken < Latin laxāre < laxus lax]

–lush´ly, adverb.

–lush´ness, noun.

lush² «luhsh», noun, verb. Slang.

–n.

1. liquor; drink.

2. a person who drinks too much: »

Daddy figured him for forty-forty-five and something of a lush maybe (Maclean's).

–v.t.

1. to supply with drink.

2. to drink: »

some of the richest sort you ever lushed (Dickens).

–v.i.

to drink liquor; drink.

╂[erhaps humorous use of lush¹ in sense of “watery”]