loose-leaf lettuce
- noun
- /ˈluːs liːf ˈlɛtɪs/
:
lechuga suelta
- Many salads feature loose-leaf lettuce for its tender texture and mild flavor.
Examples
-
I bought some fresh loose-leaf lettuce at the market.
-
She prefers to grow loose-leaf lettuce in her garden instead of iceberg varieties.
-
Farmers' markets often offer several types of loose-leaf lettuce during the spring.
-
Have you tried loose-leaf lettuce in your salads?
-
The salad was made with fresh loose-leaf lettuce from the garden.
-
For the best taste, use loose-leaf lettuce in your sandwiches.
-
I prefer loose-leaf lettuce because it has a softer texture than other types.
Synonyms
93
1.0
A leafy green vegetable often eaten raw in salads
1
2.3
A type of lettuce with loose, curled leaves used in salads
A type of lettuce with loose, curled leaves used in salads
Antonyms
How Compact
Surface Forms
Morphology
loose-leaf + lettuce
The noun phrase is transparently built from 'loose' + 'leaf' modifying 'lettuce', so a learner who knows 'loose' (not tight), 'leaf' (plant leaf), and 'lettuce' can infer it refers to lettuce with loose, non-compact leaves rather than a head. This follows ordinary adjective/compound + noun composition patterns and is cross-linguistically predictable, so a B1 learner should understand it from the parts.
Etymology
Loose-leaf lettuce gets its name from how the plant looks: each leaf is loose and does not form a tight head. That's why the name describes the lettuce you can pick leaf by leaf, not a round 'head' of lettuce.