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.
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
Apples, carrots, cooked broccoli and pears contain 80% to 89% water, as do oranges, grapes and pineapple.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
This was led by higher prices for fresh fruit and fresh vegetables in May, with households paying more for items such as berries, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
California broccoli quality ranges from fair to good, Markon specified.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
“Still, fighting is not gonna solve anything,” Chantal says as she wraps a bag of frozen broccoli in paper towels for me to put on my forehead.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
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.
