beet
Americannoun
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any of various biennial plants belonging to the genus Beta, of the amaranth family, especially B. vulgaris, having a fleshy red or white root.
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the edible root of such a plant.
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the leaves of such a plant, served as a salad or cooked vegetable.
noun
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any chenopodiaceous plant of the genus Beta , esp the Eurasian species B. vulgaris , widely cultivated in such varieties as the sugar beet, mangelwurzel, beetroot, and spinach beet See also chard
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the leaves of any of several varieties of this plant, which are cooked and eaten as a vegetable
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the US name for beetroot
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of beet
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bete, Old English bēte, from Latin bēta
Explanation
A beet is a reddish-purple colored root vegetable. You can roast beets, slice them, and add them to a salad. When you peel a cooked beet, your fingers will be temporarily stained red. Beets are distinctive for their deep color and their round shape — though there are also a few varieties that are yellow. You can eat both the round, fleshy part of a beet plant and also its green leaves. The British version of beet, which is thought to have a Celtic origin, is beetroot.
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.
You can pair them with Borscht either hot or cold, Kasha Varnishkas or Beet, Apple & Herring Salad, all parts of the American-Jewish canon.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative last month started the process of decommissioning its processing plant in Brawley in the Imperial Valley, which it operates under its subsidiary Spreckles Sugar Co.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2025
Roasted Beets With Sauteed Beet Greens takes a similar approach in pairing roasted roots with wilted greens.
From Washington Post • Aug. 22, 2022
Beet juice, honey, and lemon get topped with a splash of ginger beer and tonic water for this ultra-refreshing, no-ABV cocktail alternative.
From Salon • Jul. 2, 2022
Beet sugar was a foreshadowing of what we have today: the Age of Science, in which sweetness is a product of chemistry, not whips.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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.
