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Glite Dictionary
miner's lettuce

miner's lettuce

1 8.5
A small green plant with soft round leaves that people eat raw in salads
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : lechuga de minero
  • During our hike, we spotted miner's lettuce growing by the stream.

Examples

  • The chef used miner's lettuce in his dish to give it a fresh taste.

  • The latest is purslane, also called miner's lettuce.

    Blog text (26)

  • I added some miner's lettuce to my salad for extra flavor.

Synonyms

Montia perfoliata
vsminer's lettuce
  • Specialized
9.9

A small herb with fleshy leaves often eaten raw in salads, called miner's lettuce

is the common everyday name used by nontechnical speakers
winter purslane
vsminer's lettuce
  • Specialized
8.8

A small green plant with soft leaves that you eat raw in salads

is used across western North America rather than only regionally
Indian lettuce
vsminer's lettuce
  • US
7.2

A plant with tender edible leaves often eaten raw or cooked

is a specific succulent species rather than a general genus term

Surface Forms

miner’s lettuce singular
miner’s lettuces plural

Morphology

miner's + lettuce

The phrase is compositionally clear: 'miner's' + 'lettuce' yields the idea of a type of lettuce or edible leafy plant associated with miners. A B1 learner who knows 'miner' and 'lettuce' would readily infer it refers to a salad green (historically used or gathered by miners), even if the botanical species is not a true lettuce.

Etymology

Miner's lettuce may get its name from Gold Rush miners. One popular story says hungry miners ate the soft, round leaves as a small 'salad' to get vitamin C and avoid sickness, so the words miner and lettuce remind us that it is an edible green miners used as food.