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melon

melons

A melon is a round, sweet fruit with a hard outer skin. Add some color to your fruit salad by including different types of melon, like honeydew and cantaloupe.

Melons are actually a type of berry, although you wouldn't know that to look at a watermelon, which can weigh 20 pounds or more. Melons grow on vines, like squash and gourds, and their rinds are so thick they need to be cut open with a sharp knife. When a melon is ripe, its flesh is soft, sweet, and juicy. The Greek root is mēlopepon, "gourd-apple."

Definitions of melon
  1. noun
    any of numerous fruits of the gourd family having a hard rind and sweet juicy flesh
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    types:
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    melon ball
    a bite of melon cut as a sphere
    muskmelon, sweet melon
    the fruit of a muskmelon vine; any of several sweet melons related to cucumbers
    watermelon
    large oblong or roundish melon with a hard green rind and sweet watery red or occasionally yellowish pulp
    cantaloup, cantaloupe
    the fruit of a cantaloup vine; small to medium-sized melon with yellowish flesh
    winter melon
    the fruit of the winter melon vine; a green melon with pale green to orange flesh that keeps well
    net melon, netted melon, nutmeg melon
    the fruit of a variety of muskmelon vine; a melon with netlike markings and deep green flesh
    type of:
    edible fruit
    edible reproductive body of a seed plant especially one having sweet flesh
  2. noun
    any of various fruit of cucurbitaceous vines including: muskmelons; watermelons; cantaloupes; cucumbers
    synonyms: melon vine
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    Citrullus vulgaris, watermelon, watermelon vine
    an African melon
    Cucumis melo, muskmelon, sweet melon, sweet melon vine
    any of several varieties of vine whose fruit has a netted rind and edible flesh and a musky smell
    Cucumis sativus, cucumber, cucumber vine
    a melon vine of the genus Cucumis; cultivated from earliest times for its cylindrical green fruit
    Cucumis melo cantalupensis, cantaloup, cantaloup vine, cantaloupe, cantaloupe vine
    a variety of muskmelon vine having fruit with a tan rind and orange flesh
    Cucumis melo inodorus, Persian melon, honeydew melon, winter melon, winter melon vine
    any of a variety of muskmelon vines having fruit with a smooth white rind and white or greenish flesh that does not have a musky smell
    Cucumis melo reticulatus, net melon, netted melon, nutmeg melon
    a muskmelon vine with fruit that has a thin reticulated rind and sweet green flesh
    type of:
    gourd, gourd vine
    any vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that bears fruits with hard rinds
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