subs. (common).—1.  Orig. a lady unable to obtain a partner in a dance; now applied to anyone of either sex who goes to a ball but does not dance, whether from inability, choice, or neglect. As adj. = neglected, passé.

1

  d. 1830.  PRAED, The County Ball.

        The maiden WALLFLOWERS of the room
Admire the freshness of his bloom.

2

  1860.  O. W. HOLMES, The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, vi. 176. I believe there are men who have shown as much self-devotion in carrying a lone WALLFLOWER down to the supper-table as ever saint or martyr in the act that has canonized his name.

3

  1881.  M. E. BRADDON, Asphodel, xx. Whom he had incontinently left to her own reflections, or to such conversation as she might be able to find among sundry other dowagers arrived at the same WALLFLOWER stage of existence.

4

  1902.  Free Lance, 22 Nov., 192. 1.

        When the old formula of ‘Ladies first’
In good society will be reversed,
And male WALL-FLOWERS sitting out at dances
Will reckon up their matrimonial chances.

5

  2.  (common).—In pl. = second-hand garments exposed for sale: cf. HAND-ME-DOWNS, REACH-ME-DOWNS, etc.

6