asparagus
Americannoun
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any plant of the genus Asparagus, of the lily family, especially A. officianalis, cultivated for its edible shoots.
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the shoots, eaten as a vegetable.
noun
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any Eurasian liliaceous plant of the genus Asparagus, esp the widely cultivated A. officinalis, having small scaly or needle-like leaves
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the succulent young shoots of A. officinalis, which may be cooked and eaten
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a fernlike species of asparagus, A. plumosus, native to southern Africa
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of asparagus
before 1000; < Latin < Greek asp ( h ) áragos; replacing Old English sparagi (< Medieval Latin ) and later sperage, sparrowgrass
Explanation
Asparagus is a bright green vegetable that is tender and sweet when it's cooked. Asparagus grows straight up out of the ground in a spear shape. The plant that grows familiar asparagus spears is actually a relative of the lily — it's considered to be a flowering plant, and a perennial, or a plant that returns every year. Asparagus has been eaten for centuries, and is even pictured in some ancient Egyptian art. The word is also asparagus in Latin, from the Greek asparagos, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "to spring up."
Vocabulary lists containing asparagus
Green
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The Schwa Was Here
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Rez Dogs
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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.
At Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery, the shelves heave with white strawberries, purple asparagus and other produce from 300 local farms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
It did so, nominating thousands of ingredients, including, for example, purified water and asparagus.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026
The theater’s walk-up food window is serving pizza-inspired baked potatoes, a colored chocolate pretzel meant to mimic an asparagus pretzel wand, and more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026
And for the evening meal, it's salmon, asparagus and brown rice.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
In the soft earth of a bean, potato, black-eyed pea and asparagus patch there is plenty of food left over for mice after the human crop has been gathered.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
