fiddlehead
Americannoun
-
Nautical. a billethead having a form similar to the volute carved at the upper end of a violin.
-
the young, coiled frond of various species of ferns, eaten as a vegetable.
noun
-
nautical an ornamental carving, in the shape of the scroll at the head end of a fiddle, fitted to the top of the stem or cutwater
-
the edible coiled tip of a young fern frond
Etymology
Origin of fiddlehead
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Spring specialties: garlic scapes, pea shoots, ramps, fiddlehead ferns, English peas, fava beans.
From Salon • Apr. 25, 2025
The chef’s preferred seasonal items for spring into summer include berries, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, fresh pea shoots and pea vines.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2022
In “The Spring Ephemerals,” a trillium belongs to a complex ecosystem of “rue anemone, masses // of colt’s foot, wild ginger, blood root and may- / apples, bracken and fiddlehead fern.”
From The New Yorker • Apr. 1, 2019
Right now, in the suburbs north of New York City, nature is delivering a precious group of edibles, among them fiddlehead ferns, dandelion greens and blue violets.
From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2013
Aibileen picks up another fiddlehead, starts washing its long stem, the curly green ends.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
