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  1. asparagus love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The tender young shoots of a Eurasian plant (Asparagus officinalis), eaten as a vegetable.
  2. n. Any of various perennial plants of the Old World genus Asparagus having leaflike stems, scalelike leaves, and small flowers.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A plant of the genus Asparagus, especially A. officinalis.
  2. n. A large genus of plants of the old world, natural order Liliaceæ. That which is cultivated in gardens, the common asparagus, or Asparagus officinalis, has a much-branched stem rising from thick and matted perennial root-stocks, and small greenish-yellow flowers. The narrow thread-like so-called leaves are in reality branchlets growing in clusters in the axils of the true but scale-like leaves. The roots have a bitterish mucilaginous taste, and the stalk is in some degree aperient and deobstruent, but not very efficacious. The part eaten is the turion, or young shoot covered with scales in place of leaves. The sprouts contain the crystalline substance called asparagin.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Any of various perennial plants of the genus Asparagus having leaflike stems, scalelike leaves, and small flowers.
  2. n. The young shoots of Asparagus officinalis eaten as a vegetable.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Bot.) A genus of perennial plants belonging to the natural order Liliaceæ, and having erect much branched stems, and very slender branchlets which are sometimes mistaken for leaves. Asparagus racemosus is a shrubby climbing plant with fragrant flowers. Specifically: The Asparagus officinalis, a species cultivated in gardens.
  2. n. The young and tender shoots of Asparagus officinalis, which form a valuable and well-known article of food.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. plant whose succulent young shoots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable
  2. n. edible young shoots of the asparagus plant

Etymologies

  1. From Medieval Latin asparagus, sparagus, from Ancient Greek ἀσπάραγος (asparagos). Replaced earlier Old English sparagi, from Medieval Latin, later sperage, sparrowgrass. (Wiktionary)
  2. Late Middle English sperage, sparage, from Medieval Latin sparagus, from Latin asparagus, from Greek aspharagos, asparagos. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “­asparagus soup, you can use a stalk or two of asparagus for extra flavor.”

    Kentucky.com: Homepage

  • “Continue to sauté 4 – 6 minutes, until mushrooms are browned and asparagus is tender.”

    Archive 2009-03-01

  • “What I meant was not that asparagus is corn, or that corn is asparagus.”

    Spargel

  • “The asparagus is not what I am used to, yellow green and with less of the soft upper tip.”

    Mungowitz in Deutschland--Day 3

  • “I start with a glug of olive oil, add some minced garlic, throw in some sort of vegetable (usually broccoli, though asparagus is coming in season now, and that is super good, too.), squeeze in the juice of one lemon, and toss with whole wheat linguine.”

    Weeknight Meal: Scrambled Pasta

  • “They contain asparagus sliced diagonally and lightly fried in olive oil; dark champignons (I sliced them after frying for artistic value – I would prefer shiitake I think, but they are hard to come by here), and zucchini slices.”

    The were rabbits like to play with their food. « Were rabbits

  • “I think there is some compound in asparagus that reacts badly with wine, but I can't be arsed to google what it is.”

    Asparagus with Morels and an XL Digression, blah-di-blah blah.

  • “(That said, I am eating a pork chop with 'em, but the asparagus is outstanding. 450 degrees for ten minutes in a little olive oil, and mmmm.) (42 shouts of denial | Tell me I'm full of it)”

    The Bush Brou-Ha-Ha

  • “That's amazing -- that was exactly the first recipe I was going to try from that book, but asparagus is already out of season here (and consequently, expensive).”

    Spring Asparagus with White Bean Sauce ◄ | A Veggie Venture

  • “Roast 12 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked (thick spears will take longer).”

    A Veggie Venture

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. sparrowgrass

hypernyms (5)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. herbaceous plant
  1. Herb
  1. veg
  1. veggie
  1. vegetable

same context (16)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. celery
  2. broccoli
  3. cabbage
  1. beet
  2. turnip
  3. basil
  1. cucumber
  2. okra
  3. mushroom
  1. garlic
  2. strawberry
  3. squash
  1. steak
  2. ham
  3. sprout
  1. pasta

reverse dictionary (33)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. asparaginous
  2. crioceris
  3. myrsiphyllum
  4. sparage
  5. sparagrass
  6. sparagus
  1. asparagus
  2. winged bean
  3. miemite
  4. turion
  5. paddock-cheese
  6. sparrowgrass
  1. asparagus-rust
  2. asparagaceae
  3. asparagine
  4. asparagus beetle
  5. althein
  6. asparagi
  1. hypophyllium
  2. yard-long bean
  3. asparagus fern
  4. smilax
  5. cladophyll
  6. drizzle
  1. spear
  2. family asparagaceae
  3. asparagus bed
  4. poke
  5. turioniferous
  6. asparagin
  1. corruption
  2. grass
  3. asparagus-knife

tags (9)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. gas
  1. plant
  1. wind
  1. flatulence
  1. flatus
  1. flatulent
  1. beano
  1. vccvcvcvc
  1. color:#293E15_tsv1

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Comments

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  • fbharjo GNU Webster's 1913 (2 definitions)

    –noun
    A genus of perennial plants belonging to the natural order Liliaceæ, and having erect much branched stems, and very slender branchlets which are sometimes mistaken for leaves. Asparagus racemosus is a shrubby climbing plant with fragrant flowers. Specifically: The Asparagus officinalis, a species cultivated in gardens. Mar 9, 2011

  • fbharjo see turion Sep 14, 2010

  • bilby It is :-) Nov 14, 2008

  • reesetee Ooh, spargel sounds even tastier. Nov 13, 2008

  • whichbe This word has cute spellings in other languages, like asparago (Italian), spargel (German), asperge (French/Dutch), sparris (Swedish), etc. Nov 13, 2008

  • bilby *slurps* Sep 6, 2008

  • reesetee WeirdNet, you're making me hungry. Sep 5, 2008

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‘asparagus’ has been looked up 2278 times, loved by 2 people, added to 46 lists, commented on 7 times, and has a Scrabble score of 12.