ˈivy-ˈleaf
a. A leaf of ivy; † taken as the type of a thing of little value. to pipe in (with) an ivy-leaf (fig.), to console oneself (for failure, etc.) with some frivolous employment (obs.).
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 326 Nim..ifiᵹ leaf þe on eorþan wixþ. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1433 But, Troylus, thou mayst now, este or weste, Pipe in an ivy leefe, if that the leste. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. vii. (Skeat) I. 50 Far wel the gardiner, he may pipe with an yue leafe, his fruite is failed. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 21 That all nis worth an yvy lefe. 1869 Hazlitt Eng. Prov. 425 To pipe in an ivy leaf, to go and engage in any sterile or idle occupation, to hang one's heels up. |
b. attrib. = ivy-leaved a.
| 1909 Daily Chron. 5 June 9/5 Ivy-leaf geraniums can be depended on to produce a long succession of blooms. 1939 E. Bowen Coll. Impressions (1950) 64 A window-box gay with pink ivy-leaf geraniums. 1957 Encycl. Brit. X. 205/2 The ivy-leaf geranium, derived from P[elargonium] peltatum, has given rise to an important class of both double- and single-flowered forms adapted especially for pot culture, hanging baskets, [etc.]. |