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.
About three-fourths of the water taken from it flows to farmland, about 5 million acres of it, producing alfalfa for cattle as well as lettuce, broccoli and other crops.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
You’re not merely supposed to eat the broccoli.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
This is what you would find in half an orange, three to four florets of cooked broccoli or one-third of a glass of orange juice.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
It is in our nature to see something new and spit it out like we are 2 years old and PepsiCo has offered us a spoonful of broccoli.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
But when the cows are done grazing tomorrow, those plants will still be standing, like forlorn pieces of broccoli left on a picky eater’s plate.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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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.
