water chestnut

water chestnut
noun Date: 1854 1. any of a genus (Trapa, especially T. natans of the family Trapaceae, the water-chestnut family) of Old World aquatic herbs sometimes grown as ornamentals; also its edible nutlike spiny fruit 2. a whitish crunchy vegetable used especially in Chinese cooking that is the peeled and often sliced tuber of a sedge (Eleocharis dulcis syn. E. tuberosa) native to Asia but widely cultivated elsewhere; also the tuber or the sedge itself

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • water chestnut — n. ☆ 1. a) a Chinese sedge (Eleocharis dulcis) with erect, cylindrical leaves, growing in dense clumps in water b) the large, button shaped, submerged tubers of this plant, used in Chinese cooking 2. a floating aquatic weed (Trapa natans) of the… …   English World dictionary

  • Water chestnut — Wa ter chest nut (Bot.) The fruit of {Trapa natans} and {Trapa bicornis}, Old World water plants bearing edible nutlike fruits armed with several hard and sharp points; also, the plant itself; called also {water caltrop}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • water chestnut — water .chestnut n the thick stem of a plant that grows in water, used in Chinese cooking …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • water chestnut — water chestnuts N COUNT A water chestnut is the thick bottom part of the stem of a plant which grows in China. It is used in Chinese cookery …   English dictionary

  • water-chestnut — [wôt′ərches′nət] adj. designating a family (Trapaceae, order Myrtales) of floating, aquatic dicotyledonous plants * * * …   Universalium

  • water chestnut — water ,chestnut noun count a small hard white vegetable, often used in Asian cooking …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • water chestnut — ► NOUN ▪ the crisp, white fleshed tuber of a tropical aquatic sedge, used in oriental cookery …   English terms dictionary

  • water-chestnut — [wôt′ərches′nət] adj. designating a family (Trapaceae, order Myrtales) of floating, aquatic dicotyledonous plants …   English World dictionary

  • water chestnut — noun 1. a plant of the genus Trapa bearing spiny four pronged edible nutlike fruits • Syn: ↑water chestnut plant, ↑caltrop • Hypernyms: ↑aquatic plant, ↑water plant, ↑hydrophyte, ↑hydrophytic plant …   Useful english dictionary

  • water chestnut — 1. any aquatic plant of the genus Trapa, bearing an edible, nutlike fruit, esp. T. natans, of the Old World. 2. the fruit itself. Also called water caltrop. [1850 55] * * * Any of several perennial water plants of the genus Trapa (family… …   Universalium

  • water chestnut — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms water chestnut : singular water chestnut plural water chestnuts a small hard white vegetable, often used in Asian cooking …   English dictionary

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