Definition of "asphodel"

asphodel

/ˈæsfədɛl/

noun
usually uncountable, plural asphodels
1. Any of the flowering plants of the family Asphodelaceae, especially Asphodelus ramosus and Asphodelus albus; the flower of these plants.
  Quotations
  Sometimes I lost track of them and had to hunt round in a circle, thrusting through sharp-scented bushes, scratching myself on various plants which were still new to me: resinaceous rock-roses, juniper, ilex, yellow and white asphodel [translating asphodèles].
  1962, Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Peter Green, The Prime of Life, Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, translation of La Force de l'âge, page 77
2. (Greek mythology) The flower said to carpet Hades, and a favorite food of the dead.
  Quotations
  Her hand he seis'd, and to a shadie bank,Thick overhead with verdant roof imbowr'dHe led her nothing loath; Flours were the Couch,Pansies, and Violets, and Asphodel,And Hyacinth, Earths freshest softest lap.
  1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,