poppy

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tall poppy

One who has a lot of wealth, fame, or social prominence. She may be a tall poppy, as you describe her, but she never flaunts her wealth or treats others with disrespect.
See also: poppy, tall

*red as a cherry

 and *red as a poppy; *red as a rose; *red as a ruby; *red as blood
bright red. (*Also: as ~.) When she came in from ice-skating, Clara's nose was as red as a cherry. When her boss praised her in front of the whole office, Emily turned red as a poppy. I would like to make a dress out of that beautiful velvet that is red as a rose. Jane painted her fingernails with polish as red as a ruby. I want to have my car painted red as blood.
See also: cherry, red

a tall poppy

a privileged or distinguished person.
The Roman tyrant Tarquin was reputed to have struck off the heads of poppies as a gruesomely graphic demonstration of the way in which the important men of a captured city should be treated. In recent years, the term tall poppy syndrome has also developed, referring to a tendency to discredit or disparage people who have become rich, famous, or socially prominent.
1991 Lynn Barber Mostly Men Journalists on the whole tend to be egalitarian-minded and contemptous of tall poppies, but I prefer the prima donnas.
See also: poppy, tall
References in periodicals archive ?
All of the common poppies used for landscaping, grown for edible seeds, or used for medicine share the common name of Papaver.
Gardening
Despite the devastation, bright red Flanders poppies still flourished.
Fallen heroes honoured: How did red poppy idea come about? We answer readers' questions, and some they haven't thought of asking, about Armistice Day
Parliamentarians today joined Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford and the 5000 Poppies Project team on the steps of Victorias Parliament to farewell the commemorative project, which pays tribute to our veterans.
Australia : Farewell To The 5000 Poppies Project
Planting poppies in the rain: This Welsh Dragon framework outside Conwy Castle was made |by students from Llandrillo College joinery department
MY WEEK PICTURES in
I can't agree with Brian Reade about wearing poppies.
Patriotism goes beyond poppies
There's been lots of kids coming and getting their poppies.
Poppy appeal takes to city streets in bid to raise PS20k
A variety of poppy appeal items can be brought from the shop from the traditional poppies through to gifts and wreaths.
City poppy shop now open
MADE In Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh poses in a dress lined with 100 silk poppies as she fronts this year's Remembrance Day Appeal.
Millie's backing Remembrance Day poppy campaign
The Co-operative Funeralcare, with bases in Middlesbrough, Stockton, Berwick Hills, Billingham and Sedgefield, sold knitted poppies to raise funds for the Royal British Legion (RBL) Poppy Appeal.
PS1,300 in knitted poppies
Youngsters at Liscard Primary School, in Wallasey, designed special poppy hats to create a field of poppies when viewed from above.
Pupils honour war dead at assembly
So far, they have cleared 14 provinces of poppies, it said.
Afghanistan still big drugs producing country
And you can create your own tribute to those that gave their lives in the First World War by planting poppies in your own garden.
A field of vibrancy; And a great splash of colour for the garden
It was a sight which, in 1915, inspired Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write the well-known war poem In Flanders Fields, with poppies growing 'row on row', and as such, this vivid red flower has become synonymous with the great loss of life and sacrifices made in war.
Poignancy of poppies; GARDENING Hannah Stephenson looks at how the nation's gardens are commemorating the First World War with the poppy, the enduring symbol of remembrance
uk | AMMO TALWAR MBE, Director of Punch Records and the city's BASS Festival: "I grew up in Aston thinking poppies were for the older generation.
POPPY LOVE
There also are the tiny poppy seeds used in the culinary arts, the huge iconic "'Red Poppy" paintings of Georgia O'Keefe, the magical sleep-inducing field of poppies penned in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the garden cultivars that add such exotic pizzazz in early spring, and even the illegal drug trade--raw opium is derived from the sap of the "opium poppy.
From Flanders fields to the land of Oz: beauty, intrigue and variety describe flowers in the poppy family
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