buttercup squash

4.6

A round dark green vegetable with dense sweet orange flesh

noun
/ˈbʌtərˌkʌp skwɑʃ/

: calabaza buttercup

Have you ever tried buttercup squash soup?

Examples

The buttercup squash has a rich, sweet flavor that makes it perfect for soups.
Unlike other varieties, buttercup squash has dense, creamy flesh that's perfect for purees.
She found a beautiful buttercup squash at the farmers' market and decided to bake it for dinner.
The recipe calls for roasted buttercup squash to add a rich, sweet flavor to the soup.
I bought a buttercup squash at the farmer's market.
To prepare a healthy meal, she roasted buttercup squash with olive oil and spices.
I added buttercup squash to the stew for a touch of sweetness and vibrant color.

Surface Forms

buttercup squash singular

buttercup squashes plural

Morphology

buttercup + squash

The noun-noun compound transparently denotes a type of squash: a B1 learner who knows 'buttercup' and 'squash' will infer that this is a variety of squash, likely named for its resemblance to a buttercup. This follows ordinary compounding patterns (modifier + head) that are common cross-linguistically; while detailed appearance features aren't fully predictable, the basic meaning is clearly derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

The name buttercup squash comes from how the vegetable looks: its round, low shape and deep yellow-orange flesh made people think of a buttercup 'flower' or of soft 'butter'. That's why the name now refers to this sweet, round winter squash.