n.1 a a blue-flowered plant, Linum usitatissimum, cultivated for its textile fibre and its seeds (see LINSEED). b a plant resembling this.
2 a dressed or undressed flax fibres. b archaic linen, cloth of flax.
Phrases and idioms:
flax-lily (pl. -ies) NZ any plant of the genus Phormium, yielding valuable fibre. flax-seed linseed.
Etymology: OE fl{aelig}x f. WG