Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various mostly climbing or trailing plants of the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes the squash, pumpkin, cucumber, gourd, watermelon, and cantaloupe.
- n. A gourd-shaped flask forming the body of an alembic, formerly used in distillation.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A chemical vessel originally shaped like a gourd, but sometimes shallow, with a wide mouth, used in distillation. It may be made of copper, glass, tin, or stoneware. With its head or cover it constitutes the alembic. See
alembic . - n. A gourd-shaped vessel for holding liquids. Oriental water-jars are often of this form, and porcelain and earthenware vases of China and Japan are frequently so shaped.
- n. A cupping-glass.
- n. A plant of the natural order Cucurbitaceæ.
Wiktionary
- n. Any member of the Cucurbita genus of gourds.
- n. obsolete A receptacle, originally gourd-shaped and used for liquids or chemicals; a bottle or other container.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Chem.) A vessel or flask for distillation, used with, or forming part of, an alembic; a matrass; -- originally in the shape of a gourd, with a wide mouth. See alembic.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any plant of the family Cucurbitaceae
Etymologies
- From French cucurbite, from Latin cucurbita. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English cucurbite, from Old French, from Latin cucurbita, gourd. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Second, it is a generally healthier cucurbit than its tastier siblings.”
The Washington Post: Groundwork: A winter squash named Cushaw
“The Cobaea is surely helping out holding the increasing weight of the cucurbit, but wind and heavy rain seems threatening to the strenth of the green growing vines ability to hang on.”
“A composted pumpkin has sported a vine under the arbor and a growing cucurbit is showing promise for use in a fall vignette.”
“There is nothing like the unmistakeable aroma of rotting cucurbit.”
“The Fisherman accepted his promises on both conditions, not to trouble him as before, but on the contrary to do him service; and, after making firm the plight and swearing him a solemn oath by Allah Most Highest he opened the cucurbit.”
“What is thy story, and what is thy account of thyself, and what is the cause of thy entering into this cucurbit?”
“Trick or Treat: Pumpkin, Melon, Cucumber and Relatives" focuses on the uses and history of the cucurbit plant family.”
“Cucumbers The cucumber was domesticated in India around 1500 BCE, arrived in the Mediterranean region about a thousand years later, and is now the second most important cucurbit worldwide after the watermelon.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“The squash or cucurbit family, the Cucurbitaceae, has made three broad contribu- tions to human pleasure and nutrition.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
““Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni,” he uses incorrectly the pretty word “cucurbit” 474 to express a brass pot; and many other instances might be quoted.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cucurbit’.
-
Additional 250 Spelling Words
Words for the diehard intermediate and advanced spellers
facetiae, sagittary, anthophilous, hydromancy, pandect, carillonneur, tabbouleh, litterateur, windgall, pinguid, tressure, moderne and 238 more...
-
Containers
Stuff that holds other stuff.
cardboard box, jar, filing cabinet, safe deposit box, cupboard, wardrobe, jewel case, briefcase, locker, canopic jar, chest of drawers, paper sack and 208 more...
-
phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
-
Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
-
Words that were new to me
but now they're not because I looked them up. In cases of polysemy or homography, *of course* it was the oddest meaning that stumped me. ;)
Procrustean bed, idem sonans, hob, backcap, quango, cheap-jack, pantechnicon, churrigueresco, chopfallen, maritorious, supererogation, catimini and 212 more...
-
Wordie/Wordnik Curio Cabinet
Oddments culled from my "main" lists that belong in a display cabinet of their own, plus sundry other curiosities. :-)
zeugma, ziggurat, xiphoid, xeric, whizgigging, whangdoodle, viviparous, vivific, vinolent, verjuice, vellicate, velleity and 1193 more...
-
myroblyte's Words
myroblyte, cephalophore, reliquary, pyx, ganache, lord, quill, gallant, quixotic, finial, macaronic, hang fire and 73 more...
-
Gourds & Melons
pumpkin, squash, zucchini, chayote, cocozelle, cucumber, pepo, honeydew, watermelon, cucurbit, loofah, casabanana and 54 more...
-
Words I had to Look Up. Srsly.
These are words I've encountered reading that I've had to look up on-the-spot.
execrable, ex cathedra, liminal, elegiac, synecdoche, desuetude, disingenuous, parallelopiped, vulpine, probity, amanuensis, mustelid and 67 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cucurbit.
mollusque Mayo my! Jul 14, 2008
bilby The mayosphere is disappearing at the rate of 3,000 salad rolls per day. This is serious, folks. Jul 14, 2008
sionnach You aim for the hole in the mayosphere that has been brought about by global climate change. Jul 14, 2008
bilby How do you launch a cucumber into space, thereby penetrating the thick layer of mayonnaise that surrounds the Earth? Jul 14, 2008
sionnach alternatively:
1. the trajectory of a cucumber which has been launched into space.
2. a specialized harnessing device used by those with a tendency to engage in lachanolagnosis-related activities, particularly those requiring the restraint of gourds. Jul 13, 2008