noun
clove
klohv
noun
1
A strong, aromatic spice made from the dried flower bud of the clove tree.
"She added a few cloves to the mulled wine for warmth and spice."
2
One of the small individual segments that make up a bulb, such as garlic.
"The recipe calls for two cloves of garlic, finely minced."
How to Use Clove
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither the spice itself, or a single segment of a garlic bulb.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "clove" as the past tense of "cleave" (an older, less common usage) — modern readers will almost always mean the spice or the garlic segment.
Common pairings
clove of garlic
ground cloves
oil of clove
Word Forms
cloves plural, cloves plural, cloves plural
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She added a few _____ to the mulled wine for warmth and spice.
Etymology
From Old French clou de girofle, literally "nail of clove" — named for the spice's nail-like shape. Related to Latin clavus, "nail."