chestnut
any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentata(American chestnut ), which has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, C. sativa(European chestnut ),C. mollissima(Chinese chestnut ), and C. crenata(Japanese chestnut ).
the edible nut of such a tree.
the wood of any of these trees.
any fruit or tree resembling the chestnut, as the horse chestnut.
reddish brown.
an old or stale joke, anecdote, etc.
the callosity on the inner side of the leg of a horse.
a reddish-brown horse having the mane and tail of the same color.: Compare bay5 (def. 2).
Also called liver chestnut. a horse of a solid, dark-brown color.
being reddish-brown in color.
(of food) containing or made with chestnuts: turkey with chestnut stuffing.
Idioms about chestnut
pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire, to rescue someone from a difficulty.
Origin of chestnut
1Other words from chestnut
- chestnutty, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use chestnut in a sentence
Hackneyed chestnuts like that are reserved for old toastmasters, and yet, there we were.
From Moscow to Queens, Down Sergei Dovlatov Way | Daniel Genis | September 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis classic Diesel cover of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)” is as gravelly as it is adorable.
How many times do we have to hear about those roasting chestnuts and little drummer boys?
Christmas Music Sucks (Mostly), but Here’s a Playlist of Holiday Gems | Malcolm Jones | December 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTWhere are the Blair Underwoods, the Taye Diggses, the Morris Chestnuts?
‘People’ Magazine’s Sexiest White Man Alive: Channing Tatum | Tricia Romano | November 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTWhich party sent this country to the brink of ruin in 2008, and which party pulled our chestnuts out of the fire?
It was a spring day, and the fat buds of the chestnuts were bursting into magnificent green plumes.
Children's Ways | James SullyThe chestnuts are stripped bare already and lift their black skeleton arms in the air.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole FranceDon't I remember how she sassed us for gettin' chestnuts in the wood patch back of her corn lot?
Harper's Young People, November 30, 1880 | VariousThe great roasts are simmering and crackling on the spits, while the vegetables of potatoes, chestnuts and peas are boiling.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia AustrianHe isn't one of these raw hayseeds who hands you chestnuts out of patent medicine almanacs.
A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
British Dictionary definitions for chestnut
/ (ˈtʃɛsˌnʌt) /
any N temperate fagaceous tree of the genus Castanea, such as C. sativa (sweet or Spanish chestnut), which produce flowers in long catkins and nuts in a prickly bur: Compare horse chestnut, water chestnut, dwarf chestnut
the edible nut of any of these trees
the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc
a reddish-brown to brown colour
(as adjective): chestnut hair
a horse of a yellow-brown or golden-brown colour
a small horny callus on the inner surface of a horse's leg
informal an old or stale joke
Origin of chestnut
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with chestnut
see old chestnut.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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