gherkin
noun
the small, immature fruit of a variety of cucumber, used in pickling.
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gherkin
American
[gur-kin]
/ ˈgɜr kɪn /
noun
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gherkins
plural
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the small, immature fruit of a variety of cucumber, used in pickling.
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Also called bur gherkin,. Also called gooseberry gourd,. Also called West Indian gherkin. the small, spiny fruit of a tropical vine, Cucumis anguria, of the gourd family, used in pickling.
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the plant yielding this fruit.
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a small pickle, especially one made from this fruit.
gherkin
1
British
/ ˈɡɜːkɪn /
noun
-
the immature fruit of any of various cucumbers, used for pickling
-
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a tropical American cucurbitaceous climbing plant, Cucumis anguria
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the small edible fruit of this plant
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Gherkin
2
British
/ ˈɡɜːkɪn /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gherkin
1655–65; < Dutch gurken, plural of gurk ( German Gurke ) < Slavic; compare Polish ogórek, Czech okurka ≪ Persian
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.
See Examples For:
The gherkins “symbolized for me the last thing you have in your cupboards when you run out of everything. It starts from the last gherkin jar, and from there it all goes south.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2025
Czechia’s chlebíčky: A slice of baguette with potato salad, ham, Emmental, tomato and gherkin.
From BBC ● May 10, 2023
As I bit into the taut casing of the sausage, chunks of onion and gherkin fell here and there.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2022
In one of the barns, an assistant is working on a sculpture made of sausagelike elements, while just outside stands one of Wurm’s large gherkin sculptures.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2014
What the devil's the use of "h" in gherkin, I'd like to know.
From Mark Twain's Speeches by Mark Twain
Dimon was personally involved in the design of Morgan’s, where he toasted the building’s opening last year with lead architect Norman Foster, the man behind London’s Gherkin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
The firm is led by Norman Foster, an English lord perhaps best known for designing a landmark lipstick-like skyscraper in London known as the Gherkin and the hoop-shaped Apple Inc. headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
The leading architect's previous work has included the Gherkin office block and the Great Court of the British Museum in London, and the Reichstag dome in Berlin.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2025
The zoo announced last week that Mr. Pickles and Mrs. Pickles welcomed three tortoise hatchlings: Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2023
You had to move your ears and say "Gherkin," then you were admitted to the trench.
From Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 2, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman
The gherkins “symbolized for me the last thing you have in your cupboards when you run out of everything. It starts from the last gherkin jar, and from there it all goes south.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2025
Kherson remains without electricity, running water or heating, but residents found some relief in being able to purchase Ukrainian pickled gherkins, dumplings, horseradish and other favourites.
From Reuters ● Nov. 20, 2022
He took them some traditional Ukrainian foods including rye bread, sausage and pickled gherkins.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2022
The filling, it should be noted, also contains finely-chopped bacon and sweet pickle relish, and the whole thing is topped with thin slices of pickled jalapeño peppers and/or gherkins.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2021
To the south, the flowers give way to a patch of raveled gherkins.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
