Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various plants of the genus Lactuca of the composite family, especially L. sativa, cultivated for its edible leaves.
  • noun The leaves of L. sativa, used especially in salads.
  • noun Slang Paper money.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A garden-herb, Lactuca sativa, a hardy annual, extensively cultivated for use as a salad.
  • noun Any plant of the genus Lactuca; also, a plant having some resemblance to Lactuca.
  • noun In America, Lactuca Canadensis. Also called trumpetweed and trumpet-milkweed.
  • noun Sometimes the same as blue lettuce.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A composite plant of the genus Lactuca (Lactuca sativa), the leaves of which are used as salad. Plants of this genus yield a milky juice, from which lactucarium is obtained. The commonest wild lettuce of the United States is Lactuca Canadensis.
  • noun slang United States currency; dollar bills; greenbacks.
  • noun See under Hare, and Lamb.
  • noun See Lactucarium.
  • noun certain papery green seaweeds of the genus Ulva.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An edible plant, Lactuca sativa and its close relatives, having a head of green and/or purple leaves.
  • noun uncountable The leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable; as a dish often mixed with other ingredients, dressing etc.
  • noun uncountable, US, slang : Folding money, also called cabbage, due to the green color of both US currency and the vegetables.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun informal terms for money
  • noun leaves of any of various plants of Lactuca sativa
  • noun any of various plants of the genus Lactuca

Etymologies

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

[Middle English lettuse, from Old French laitues, pl. of laitue, from Latin lactūca, from lac, lact-, milk (from its milky juice); see melg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English letuse, of uncertain precise origin; related to Old French laitue, from Latin lactūca ("lettuce"), from lac ("milk").

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Examples

Comments

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  • WeirdNet!

    November 12, 2008

  • The country vegetables scorn

    To lie about in shops,

    They stand upright as they were born

    In neatly-patterned crops;

    And when you want your dinner you

    Don't buy it from a shelf,

    You find a lettuce fresh with dew

    And pull it for yourself ...

    - Eleanor Farjeon, 'Vegetables'.

    November 12, 2008

  • It's literal translation is milky.

    December 9, 2009

  • It's correct spelling is "its". :)

    December 9, 2009

  • It gets milkier and milkier as it flakes!

    June 26, 2012