vegetable
Americannoun
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any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.
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the edible part of such a plant, as the tuber of the potato.
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any member of the plant kingdom; plant.
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Informal. a person who is so severely impaired mentally or physically as to be largely incapable of conscious responses or activity.
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a dull, spiritless, and uninteresting person.
adjective
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of, consisting of, or made from edible vegetables.
a vegetable diet.
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of, relating to, or characteristic of plants.
the vegetable kingdom.
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derived from plants.
vegetable fiber; vegetable oils.
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consisting of, comprising, or containing the substance or remains of plants.
vegetable matter; a vegetable organism.
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of the nature of or resembling a plant.
the vegetable forms of Art Nouveau ornament.
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inactive; inert; dull; uneventful.
a vegetable existence.
noun
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any of various herbaceous plants having parts that are used as food, such as peas, beans, cabbage, potatoes, cauliflower, and onions
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informal a person who has lost control of his mental faculties, limbs, etc, as from an injury, mental disease, etc
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a dull inactive person
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( as modifier )
a vegetable life
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(modifier) consisting of or made from edible vegetables
a vegetable diet
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(modifier) of, relating to, characteristic of, derived from, or consisting of plants or plant material
vegetable oils
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rare any member of the plant kingdom
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A plant that is cultivated for an edible part, such as the leaf of spinach, the root of the carrot, or the stem of celery.
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An edible part of one of these plants.
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See Note at fruit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vegetable
1350–1400; Middle English (adjective) < Late Latin vegetābilis “able to live and grow,” equivalent to vegetā(re) “to quicken” ( see vegetate) + -bilis -ble
Explanation
A vegetable is an edible part of a plant, like a stalk of broccoli, a carrot, or a spinach leaf. With a few exceptions (think French fries), vegetables are just about the healthiest food you can eat. Culinary purists will tell you that some things you think of as vegetables, like tomatoes and zucchinis, aren't vegetables at all — they're fruits, because they have seeds. In general, though, it's fine to refer to the parts of plants used for food as vegetables. The word's original meaning was simply "any plant," and soon it came to mean "plant cultivated for food." Since 1921, it's also been slang for "person leading a monotonous, inactive life."
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:
"It helps increase their vegetable intake without causing a battle."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Yes, you can build your soup base from the water used to cook your noodles, but I prefer starting from scratch with chicken or vegetable stock, which adds richness and depth.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
But now public health officials are eyeing lettuce—specifically shredded iceberg that Taylor Farms, a California-based vegetable supplier, distributed to Taco Bell restaurants in at least five states.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Conagra, dealing with inflation, plans to raise prices on frozen meals, vegetable spreads, meat sticks, Tennessee Pride sausage and Hebrew National hot dogs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
I know she loves being assigned greenhouse duty the most; it’s where we prep our seed trays and grow the vegetable starts for our garden.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Michelle is still eating fruits and vegetables, but only ones she cooks.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The vast majority of fresh fruits and vegetables are safe to eat, food-safety experts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Farms in the Imperial Valley, which produce crops from hay to vegetables, depend entirely on the river.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The next day, that name emerged: California-based Taylor Farms, the third-largest producer of fresh produce in the U.S., specializing in packaged salad kits and fresh-cut vegetables.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
If I did, my throat would get super itchy, as I’m allergic to pretty much all fruits and vegetables.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
