turnip
Americannoun
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the thick, fleshy, edible root of either of two plants of the mustard family, the white-fleshed Brassica rapa rapifera or the yellow-fleshed rutabaga.
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the plant itself.
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the root of this plant used as a vegetable.
noun
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a widely cultivated plant, Brassica rapa , of the Mediterranean region, with a large yellow or white edible root: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)
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the root of this plant, which is eaten as a vegetable
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any of several similar or related plants
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another name for kohlrabi
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of turnip
1525–35; earlier turnep(e) , equivalent to turn (with reference to its neatly rounded shape) + nepe neep
Compare meaning
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Explanation
A turnip is a slightly bitter-flavored root vegetable. In Japan, it's common to pickle turnips and serve them as a cold snack or in a stir fry with other vegetables. You can recognize a turnip by its roundish shape and its white color, often accented at the top by pink or purple. Turnips also have green leaves that can be cooked and eaten. Some people also call rutabagas turnips, although these are actually a cross between a turnip and cabbage. Experts think the turn part of turnip stems from the idea that it looks like it's been turned, or rotated and shaped, on a lathe.
Vocabulary lists containing turnip
"The Secret Water"
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The Boxcar Children
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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.
Cleaning houses, working in a candle shop, babysitting, unloading trucks in a food terminal and finally the kitchen of local health food grocery the Turnip Truck, music was always in the background.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
"Whilst on a bike ride, I was contemplating on what to enter and remembering I was robbed in the 2022 Turnip Prize final by some geezer from London," he said.
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025
Unlike Swamp Soup, which uses sausage to season its base, bacon is the only protein in Turnip Green Soup.
From Salon • Feb. 1, 2024
The spoof Turnip Prize award for purposefully low-effort and cheap art is open to entries for its 25th year.
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2023
The Friar was unwillinge to believe that I had met a talking Ferret and did ask me whether I had been supping of Brother Boniface’s Turnip Wine.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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.
