Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A variety of summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) having an elongated shape and a thin, light green rind mottled with white.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Levantine and Egyptian colloquial Arabic kūsā, summer squash, cousa, of Romance origin; akin to Piedmontese dialectal Italian coussa, summer squash, Italian cucuzza, pumpkin, summer squash and zucca, pumpkin, summer squash, all ultimately from Late Latin cucutia, a kind of edible gourd; see zucchini.]

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Examples

  • Their only traces are the word "Deus," foully perverted like the Chinese "joss;" and an occasional crucifix which is called cousa de branco -- white man's thing.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 Richard Francis Burton 1855

  • Their only traces are the word “Deus,” foully perverted like the Chinese “joss;” and an occasional crucifix which is called cousa de branco — white man’s thing.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo 2003

  • He said that nothing so surprised him as to see English, the most learned and intelligent people in the world, visiting a place like Cintra, where there was no literature and nothing of utility (_aonde no ha nem leitura_, _nem sciencia_, _nem alguma cousa que presta_).

    Letters of George Borrow to the British and Foreign Bible Society George Henry Borrow 1842

  • A: This appears to be a kuta or cousa type of summer squash, which, like zucchini belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo.

    SFGate: Top News Stories 2010

  • I have been wondering ever since, how do other families prepare their cousa mashi?

    Qwaider Planet 2010

  • I recently posted a recipe for stuffed cousa on recipezaar.

    Qwaider Planet 2010

  • I came across this recipe for stuffed zucchini (cousa) and was struck by the shape of the squash.

    Qwaider Planet 2010

  • The reviewer left out the turmeric so as not to yellow her fingers, a big mistake, as I imagine a bland stuffed cousa would be like eating a dirty dishrag.

    Qwaider Planet 2010

  • _ Que cousa tam escusada he agora aqui Anibal, que vossa corte he afamada per todo mundo em geral.

    Four Plays of Gil Vicente Gil Vicente 1501

  • ¶ Alma humana formada de nenhũa cousa feyta muy preciosa, de corrupçam separada,

    Four Plays of Gil Vicente Gil Vicente 1501

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