broccoli
Americannoun
noun
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a cultivated variety of cabbage, Brassica oleracea italica , having branched greenish flower heads
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the flower head of this plant, eaten as a vegetable before the buds have opened
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a variety of this plant that does not form a head, whose stalks are eaten as a vegetable
Usage
What else does broccoli mean? Content warning: this article references illicit drugs. When not referring to the actual vegetable, broccoli is slang for "marijuana."
Etymology
Origin of broccoli
1690–1700; < Italian, plural of broccolo, equivalent to brocc ( o ) sprout (< Late Latin; see broach) + -olo diminutive suffix
Vocabulary lists containing broccoli
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.
Then I round the corner toward the bagged vegetables and point my phone at a package of Earthbound Farm broccoli florets.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Emma Robins, from Reading, says broccoli hidden in pesto pasta is a favourite for her three-year-old son Alfred, as well as veg pulsed into pasta sauces.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Benedette Hardwick, the owner of the Red B Restaurant in Idabel, Okla., said the restaurant had temporarily stopped serving things like kale, parsley, green onion, raw broccoli, spinach and cilantro.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
It is a Campbell’s-inspired soup can, lightly angled so strands of broccoli are peeking out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
If neither is followed by a noun, then so is nor: Oscar eats neither peas nor broccoli.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
