Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several varieties of two related vines (Cucumis melo or Citrullus lanatus) widely cultivated for their edible fruit.
- n. The fruit of any of these plants, having a hard rind and juicy flesh.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as pademelon.
- n. A herbaceous succulent trailing annual plant, Cucumis Melo, natural order Cucurbitaceæ, or its fruit, the muskmelon. The plant is not known in a wild state, but its origin was referred by De Candolle to the region of the southern Caspian. It has been cultivated from time immemorial in the hot countries of the East, the melons of Persia being specially celebrated, and is now planted wherever there is sufficient summer heat to mature its fruit. The latter at its best is very rich and highly flavored. It is an ellipsoid or globular pepo, the edible part of which is the inner layer of the pericarp, the stringy and watery placentæ with the seeds being rejected. The melon is grown in numberless varieties, as the cantaloup, the nutmeg, etc. In the United States this fruit, in all its forms, is known as muskmelon—melon being applied indifferently to it and the watermelon, or even by preference to the latter. The melon of Numbers xi. 5 is thought by some to have been the watermelon (see def. 2). See
cantaloup and Cucumis. - n. The watermelon, Citrullus vulgaris.
- n. A melon-shell.
- n. A hemispherical mass of blubber taken from the top of the head of the black-fish, grampus, and related cetaceans; melon-blubber. The melon reaches from the spout-hole to the end of the nose, and from the top of the head down to the upper jaw.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of a light pinkish orange colour, like that of melon flesh.
- n. Any of various fruits of the family Cucurbitaceae grown for food, generally not including the cucumber.
- n. A light pinkish orange colour, like that of some melon flesh.
- n. Breasts.
- n. The head.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The juicy fruit of certain cucurbitaceous plants, as the muskmelon, watermelon, and citron melon; also, the plant that produces the fruit.
- n. A large, ornamental, marine, univalve shell of the genus Melo.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any of numerous fruits of the gourd family having a hard rind and sweet juicy flesh
- n. any of various fruit of cucurbitaceous vines including: muskmelons; watermelons; cantaloupes; cucumbers.
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin mēlō, mēlōn-, short for Latin mēlopepō, from Greek mēlopepōn : mēlon, apple + pepōn, gourd.
Examples
“If the melon is a very sweet one, taste before adding sugar; it may not need much, if any.”
“In bottle: Red musk and melon is a weird intersection.”
“Bijoux, cheese and melon is such a good combination and definitely - love.”
“Well, not feeling so hot that Christmas AM, I oped for simplicity - a big bowl of puffed Kamut grains and a mug of green tea, followed by a few pieces of melon from the platter, a clementine orange, and eventually a couple pieces of 70% Lindt chocolate from a bar that was in my stocking!”
“Next, the quick-witted Cook of Live To Cook turns to a different language to find a Q fruit: it turns out the fragrant cantaloupe melon is Qawun kantalubi in the Arabic language!”
“At the last minute, Ginny got a melon from the crisper, scooped out the seeds, and drizzled yogurt on each half.”
“When she woke up, she got them some tuna salad and melon from the fridge.”
“But did the streets of Speculative Ficville need to be covered in melon seeds to prove this?”
“The best way to determine the ripeness of a melon is to hold it up to the ear and thump on it - if this produces a hollow sound, the melon is ready for eating.”
“Dressed in melon pants, yellow shirt and light blue sweater, Solondz darted across the room to greet me with a big smile and howdy-do handshake.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘melon’.
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Uncommon Colours
azure, myrtle, periwinkle, viridian, jade, emerald, lime, chartreuse, asparagus, celadon, harlequin, olive and 147 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Crayon Colors
This is a continuing list of Crayon Colors past and present. As I find new ones added to the "box", I will add them here as well!
black, blue, brown, apricot, bittersweet, blue green, blue violet, brick red, burnt sienna, carnation pink, cornflower, flesh and 134 more...
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Fetishes, Erotica & Descriptive Smut
Sexually charged words, or those that could be. Sexual innuendos are mighty welcome.
lubricious, turgid, tumescent, tumid, feverish, mons, mons veneris, prurient, ophidian, houri, cyprian, licentious and 41 more...
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head
words for head
noggin, gourd, brain, cranium, melon, skull, upstairs, attic, crown, roof, mind, plosive and 9 more...
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Colour Me Happy
violet, lavender, rose, eggshell, mauve, fuschia, grey, azure, almond, sienna, purple, periwinkle and 71 more...
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ShuckFinn's Words
abecedarian, conflate, mondegreen, whit, truculent, downright, pugnacious, effluvium, canker, inveigle, obfuscate, melancholy and 227 more...
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lauren_inretrospective's list
words I adore....
ethereal, luminiscent, etiquette, surreal, plumage, feathery, vintage, jubilee, rouge, satin, fathom, height and 101 more...
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Color Words for Shoes
Vendors can get oddly creative.
amaranth, brindle, iguana, slate black, madder brown, bison, pinecone, seal brown, forest night, burnt orange, monument, beet red and 399 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1466 more...
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color me mauve
color words
albescent, ecru, eggshell, mauve, taupe, ochre, ashen, goldenrod, gamboge, cream, saffron, mustard and 109 more...
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dandy's list
favourite words
cattywampus, wibble, fenagle, whisker, sneeze, wisteria, honeysuckle, clove, perihelion, glimmer, twilight, dusk and 264 more...
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food
food, chef, spice, salt, sugar, pumpkin, apples, fruit, vegetable, savory, soup, sauce and 280 more...
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Odd Anagrams
Sets of anagrams that have contrasting or related meanings.
casual, causal, parental, paternal, prenatal, atoners, senator, treason, listen, silent, dictionary, indicatory and 106 more...
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Words with Method to their Madness
Patterned words! Any word that alternates vowels and consonants with no consonants next to each other, and no vowels next to each other. (And a letter limit of no less than 5)
eleven, every, vowel, lemon, alibi, hopes, limit, cures, caravan, emirate, united arab emirates, honorificabilitud... and 114 more...
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Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...


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