vegetable
Other forms: vegetables
A vegetable is an edible part of a plant, like a stalk of broccoli, a carrot, or a spinach leaf. With a few exceptions (think French fries), vegetables are just about the healthiest food you can eat.
Culinary purists will tell you that some things you think of as vegetables, like tomatoes and zucchinis, aren't vegetables at all — they're fruits, because they have seeds. In general, though, it's fine to refer to the parts of plants used for food as vegetables. The word's original meaning was simply "any plant," and soon it came to mean "plant cultivated for food." Since 1921, it's also been slang for "person leading a monotonous, inactive life."
Definitions of vegetable
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any of various herbaceous plants cultivated for an edible part such as the fruit or the root of the beet or the leaf of spinach or the seeds of bean plants or the flower buds of broccoli or cauliflower
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types:
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Beta vulgaris, beet, common beet
biennial Eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop
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Spinacia oleracea, prickly-seeded spinach, spinach, spinach plant
southwestern Asian plant widely cultivated for its succulent edible dark green leaves
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Cynara scolymus, artichoke, artichoke plant, globe artichoke
Mediterranean thistlelike plant widely cultivated for its large edible flower head
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Cynara cardunculus, cardoon
southern European plant having spiny leaves and purple flowers cultivated for its edible leafstalks and roots
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Beta vulgaris rubra, beetroot
beet having a massively swollen red root; widely grown for human consumption
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Beta vulgaris cicla, Swiss chard, chard, chard plant, leaf beet, spinach beet
beet lacking swollen root; grown as a vegetable for its edible leaves and stalks
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Beta vulgaris vulgaris, mangel-wurzel, mangold, mangold-wurzel
beet with a large yellowish root; grown chiefly as cattle feed
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sugar beet
form of the common beet having a sweet white root from which sugar is obtained
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type of:
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herb, herbaceous plant
a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests
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edible seeds or roots or stems or leaves or bulbs or tubers or nonsweet fruits of any of numerous herbaceous plant
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types:
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julienne, julienne vegetable
a vegetable cut into thin strips (usually used as a garnish)
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rabbit food, raw vegetable
an uncooked vegetable
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legume
the seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas, beans, or lentils)
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potherb
any of various herbaceous plants whose leaves or stems or flowers are cooked and used for food or seasoning
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green, greens, leafy vegetable
any of various leafy plants or their leaves and stems eaten as vegetables
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solanaceous vegetable
any of several fruits of plants of the family Solanaceae; especially of the genera Solanum, Capsicum, and Lycopersicon
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root vegetable
any of various fleshy edible underground roots or tubers
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pieplant, rhubarb
long pinkish sour leafstalks usually eaten cooked and sweetened
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cruciferous vegetable
a vegetable of the mustard family: especially mustard greens; various cabbages; broccoli; cauliflower; brussels sprouts
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squash
edible fruit of a squash plant; eaten as a vegetable
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cucumber, cuke
cylindrical green fruit with thin green rind and white flesh eaten as a vegetable; related to melons
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artichoke, globe artichoke
a thistlelike flower head with edible, fleshy leaves and heart
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artichoke heart
the tender fleshy center of the immature artichoke flower
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asparagus
edible young shoots of the asparagus plant
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bamboo shoot
edible young shoots of bamboo
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onion
an aromatic flavorful vegetable
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leek
related to onions; white cylindrical bulb and flat dark-green leaves
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cardoon
only parts eaten are roots and especially stalks (blanched and used as celery); related to artichokes
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celery
stalks eaten raw or cooked or used as seasoning
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gumbo, okra
long mucilaginous green pods; may be simmered or sauteed but used especially in soups and stews
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mushroom
fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi
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pumpkin
usually large pulpy deep-yellow round fruit of the squash family maturing in late summer or early autumn
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earthnut, truffle
edible subterranean fungus of the genus Tuber
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plantain
starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics
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Florence fennel, fennel, finocchio
aromatic bulbous stem base eaten cooked or raw in salads
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pulse
edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas or beans or lentils etc.)
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chop-suey greens
succulent and aromatic young dark green leaves used in Chinese and Vietnamese and Japanese cooking
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Irish potato, murphy, potato, spud, tater, white potato
an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland
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yam
edible tuberous root of various yam plants of the genus Dioscorea grown in the tropics world-wide for food
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sweet potato
the edible tuberous root of the sweet potato vine which is grown widely in warm regions of the United States
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aubergine, eggplant, mad apple
egg-shaped vegetable having a shiny skin typically dark purple but occasionally white or yellow
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Indian mustard, leaf mustard, mustard, mustard greens
leaves eaten as cooked greens
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cabbage, chou
any of various types of cabbage
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broccoli
branched green undeveloped flower heads
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cauliflower
compact head of white undeveloped flowers
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brussels sprouts
the small edible cabbage-like buds growing along a stalk of the brussels sprout plant
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broccoli raab, broccoli rabe
slightly bitter dark green leaves and clustered flower buds
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summer squash
any of various fruits of the gourd family that mature during the summer; eaten while immature and before seeds and rind harden
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winter squash
any of various fruits of the gourd family with thick rinds and edible yellow to orange flesh that mature in the fall and can be stored for several months
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gherkin
small prickly cucumber
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Jerusalem artichoke, sunchoke
sunflower tuber eaten raw or boiled or sliced thin and fried as Saratoga chips
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sprout
a newly grown bud (especially from a germinating seed)
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beet, beetroot
round red root vegetable
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beet green
young leaves of the beetroot
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Swiss chard, chard, leaf beet, spinach beet
long succulent whitish stalks with large green leaves
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pepper
sweet and hot varieties of fruits of plants of the genus Capsicum
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Bermuda onion
mild flat onion grown in warm areas
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green onion, scallion, spring onion
a young onion before the bulb has enlarged; eaten in salads
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Vidalia onion
sweet-flavored onion grown in Georgia
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Spanish onion
large mild and succulent onion; often eaten raw
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shallot
small mild-flavored onion-like or garlic-like clustered bulbs used for seasoning
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salad green, salad greens
greens suitable for eating uncooked as in salads
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bean, edible bean
any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae used for food
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lentil
round flat seed of the lentil plant used for food
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pea
seed of a pea plant used for food
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chickpea, garbanzo
large white roundish Asiatic legume; usually dried
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black-eyed pea, cowpea
eaten fresh as shell beans or dried
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carrot
orange root; important source of carotene
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Paschal celery, pascal celery
any of several types of commercially grown celery having green stalks
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celeriac, celery root
thickened edible aromatic root of a variety of celery plant
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dandelion green
edible leaves of the common dandelion collected from the wild; used in salads and in making wine
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kohlrabi, turnip cabbage
fleshy turnip-shaped edible stem of the kohlrabi plant
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lamb's-quarter, pigweed, wild spinach
leaves collected from the wild
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wild spinach
leafy greens collected from the wild and used as a substitute for spinach
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tomato
mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruit eaten as a vegetable
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Mexican husk tomato, husk tomato, tomatillo
small edible yellow to purple tomato-like fruit enclosed in a bladderlike husk
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salsify
either of two long roots eaten cooked
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parsnip
whitish edible root; eaten cooked
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radish
pungent fleshy edible root
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turnip
root of any of several members of the mustard family
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turnip greens
tender leaves of young white turnips
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common sorrel, sorrel
large sour-tasting arrowhead-shaped leaves used in salads and sauces
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French sorrel
greens having small tart oval to pointed leaves; preferred to common sorrel for salads
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spinach
dark green leaves; eaten cooked or raw in salads
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cocoyam, dasheen, edda, taro, taro root
tropical starchy tuberous root
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type of:
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garden truck, green goods, green groceries, produce
fresh fruits and vegetable grown for the market
Pronunciation
US
/ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
UK
/ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
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