A bulbous iris, Iris xiphium, from the western Mediterranean; it has violet-purple flowers with a short perianth tube.

An adjustable diaphragm by which the diameter of an approximately circular opening may be controlled, as for regulating the aperture of a lens; it consists of a number of movable thin curved plates fastened at regular intervals around the inside of a ring, the positions of which are simultaneously adjusted by a single knob on the outside of the lens. It is used in cameras and microscopes.

plural of iris diaphragm

Iris foetidissima, a species of iris of Western Europe whose leaves give off a beefy smell when crushed or bruised.

An iris shot used at the end of a scene

plural of iris shot

(film) The use of an expanding or contracting black circle to open or close a cinematic scene.

plural of iris-skipper

Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genus Mesodina.

(botany, horticulture) Any species or cultivar of the bearded rhizomatous irises of the section Iris subg. Iris sect. Iris, especially Iris × germanica.