carob
Americannoun
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carobs
plural
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a Mediterranean tree, Ceratonia siliqua, of the legume family, bearing long, leathery pods containing hard seeds and sweet, edible pulp.
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Also called St. John's-bread, algarroba, locust bean. the pod of this tree, the source of various foodstuffs, including a substitute for chocolate, as well as substances having several industrial uses, and sometimes used as food for animals.
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a powder made from the ground pods and seeds of this tree and used in cooking, especially as a substitute for chocolate.
noun
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Also called: algarroba. an evergreen leguminous Mediterranean tree, Ceratonia siliqua, with compound leaves and edible pods
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Also called: algarroba. Saint John's bread. the long blackish sugary pod of this tree, used as a substitute for chocolate and for animal fodder
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of carob
1540–50; < Middle French carobe < Medieval Latin carrūbium < Arabic kharrūb bean-pods, carobs
Vocabulary lists containing carob
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:
He acknowledges that carob "really doesn't taste like chocolate" but adds that Foreverland's fermentation and roasting process removes some of the carob flavour to get it closer to cocoa.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025
The company opened its production facility in March, where staff process not cacao beans but carob husks.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025
Eventually, he settled on the eight most frequently mentioned: desert dates, Yemeni Sidr honey, sycamore figs, Israeli golden raisins, prickly juniper berries, carob fruit, black cumin and frankincense.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
In more modern times, carob products intended for humans are produced by roasting and grinding the edible pulp inside the pods.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
I envisioned her skin the same carob color as my father’s, her eyes as black and her lips as full as his.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Greek landowners in the jagged Troodos Mountains leased their pastures to Turkish shepherds; Turkish shopkeepers bought oranges and carobs from Greek farmers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Greek landowners in the craggy Troodos Mountains leased their pastures to Turkish shepherds; Turkish shopkeepers bought oranges and carobs from Greek farmers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mird lives near by, among his peas, vines and carobs, in a house cluttered by found objects and rustic earthenware.
From Time Magazine Archive
At one time carobs were used in Cyprus for fattening mules and other animals, but, unfortunately, this practice died out.
From Notes on Agriculture in Cyprus and Its Products by William Bevan
Much damage is done to carobs by the large rat, Mus Alexandrinus.
From Notes on Agriculture in Cyprus and Its Products by William Bevan
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.
