gourd
Americannoun
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the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria white-flowered gourd, or bottle gourd, whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo yellow-flowered gourd, used ornamentally.
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a plant bearing such a fruit.
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a dried and excavated gourd shell used as a bottle, dipper, flask, etc.
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a gourd-shaped, small-necked bottle or flask.
idioms
noun
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the fruit of any of various cucurbitaceous or similar plants, esp the bottle gourd and some squashes, whose dried shells are used for ornament, drinking cups, etc
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any plant that bears this fruit See also sour gourd dishcloth gourd calabash
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a bottle or flask made from the dried shell of the bottle gourd
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a small bottle shaped like a gourd
Other Word Forms
- gourd-shaped adjective
- gourdlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of gourd
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English gourd(e), courde, from Anglo-French ( Old French cöorde ), from Latin cucurbita
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.
To help figure out which seeds to use, he built a database that now traces the family trees of thousands of gargantuan gourds back generations.
“If a Jack-o’-lantern isn’t your style, use paint, appliqués, and accessories to give your gourds personality,” Stewart suggests.
From Salon
Pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and other members of the gourd family have a surprising trait: they can take up pollutants from the soil and store them in their edible parts.
From Science Daily
At the market, surrounded by gourds and carrots grown in his own garden, Fedir said he had also been jolted awake by the power of the nearby missile strike.
From BBC
Customers are paying them hundreds—sometimes thousands—of dollars to festoon their homes with gourds of every shape and size.
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.
