Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - perennial

(perennials) 1. You use perennial to describe situations or states that keep occurring or which seem to exist all the time; used especially to describe problems or difficulties. ...the perennial urban problems of drugs and homelessness... = constant ADJ: usu ADJ n • perennially Both services are perennially short of staff. ADV: usu ADV adj 2. A perennial plant lives for several years and has flowers each year. ...a perennial herb with greenish-yellow flowers. ADJ: usu ADJ n • Perennial is also a noun. ...a low-growing perennial. N-COUNT