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vegetable

vegetable

545 1.0
A plant or plant part eaten as food, usually not sweet
  • noun
  • /ˈvɛdʒtəbl/
translation icon : verdura
  • My mother always includes a variety of vegetables in her stir-fry for better nutrition.
  • fruit and vegetables
  • eat vegetables
  • fresh vegetables

Her diet was made-up of vegetables, meat and fat.

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Examples

  • In addition, it was more costly than living on vegetables alone.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Provide tips for parents on how to model and support fruit and vegetable consumption at home.

    Academic text (2011)
  • A garden can be all vegetables and can be very beautiful.

  • The colony is growing and needs more ground for vegetables.

  • When possible, offer more than one fruit and/or vegetable option at a time.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Explore new ways to promote vegetables, as students favor fruit over vegetables.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Main successes included seeing students try new fruit and vegetable snacks, having the program run smoothly, and teacher support.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Her diet was made-up of vegetables, meat and fat.

  • RESULTS: Distributing fresh fruit and vegetable snacks at school was well received by staff and students.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Vegetables can taste good!

Synonyms

veggie
vsvegetable
  • Informal
43 3.0

A plant food like a carrot or lettuce that you eat

is the neutral, general term used in food contexts
veg
vsvegetable
  • UK
14 7.9

A part of a plant that people eat, for example carrots and peas

is the neutral standard term rather than the casual short form
esculent plant
vsvegetable
6.5

A plant you can eat

is narrower, used for usually nonsweet parts often eaten in savory dishes

Idioms

like a vegetable
  • Offensive
1 9.1

In a very still way and not responding or thinking

Compounds

17 1.0

An oil made from plants that you use for cooking

A small piece of land where you grow vegetables to eat

A vegetable that grows under the ground like a carrot or potato

A hot dish of vegetables like carrots and potatoes cooked in a tasty liquid

A vegetable like a carrot or cucumber that is not cooked

A plant food with green edible leaves like spinach or lettuce

A plant with green leaves and stems you eat

2 2.0

A small area in a garden where people grow vegetables

cruciferous vegetable
  • Specialized
1 3.6

A vegetable from the mustard family like cabbage or broccoli that people eat

julienne vegetable
  • Specialized
1 3.7

A vegetable cut into thin strips like matchsticks for salads and cooking

Parts of plants, such as leaves and stems, that can rot

1 6.4

A long green summer squash with pale inside that people eat

A dark green squash with light patches used in Mediterranean cooking

nightshade vegetable
  • Specialized
6.1

Plants you can eat like tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers that can cause rashes or other reactions in some people

solanaceous vegetable
  • Specialized
7.9

A vegetable that comes from plants like tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplants

9.9

A small tropical tree with red edible flowers and leaves

A hard white seed from some South American palms that people use to make buttons and small carved objects

A plant fruit used as a natural bath sponge, like a loofah

A waxy fat from plants like bayberry used for candles and soap

A firm, oily material from plants used in polishes and cosmetics

A plant with a root you can eat that tastes like oysters

Soft, silky plant fiber from a tropical tree that fills pillows and insulates

vegetable sheep
  • New Zealand
9.9

A small plant with thick woolly leaves that looks like a sheep from far away

How Common

vegetable
545 1.0

Surface Forms

vegetable singular
vegetables plural

Morphology

vegetable = veget + able

Although the suffix '-able' is present, the root 'veget' is not a standalone English word and the noun meaning 'plant / edible plant part' is a lexicalized sense not transparently composed from familiar English morphemes.

Etymology

Vegetable comes from the Latin vegetare, which means 'to enliven', and vegetabilis, which means 'growing'. So it originally meant a 'growing thing', which is why today a vegetable is a plant or part of a plant we eat, and you can see the same root in vegetation.