Function: noun
Date: 1835
1 : a European pimpernel ( Anagallis arvensis ) naturalized in No. America and having scarlet, white, or purplish flowers that close in cloudy weather
2 [ Scarlet Pimpernel, assumed name of the hero of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), novel by Baroness Orczy] : a person who rescues others from mortal danger by smuggling them across a border