cashew
Americannoun
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cashews
plural
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a tree, Anacardium occidentale, native to tropical America, having milky juice, simple, leathery leaves, and yellowish-pink flowers in open clusters.
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Also called cashew nut. the small, kidney-shaped, edible nut of this tree.
noun
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a tropical American anacardiaceous evergreen tree, Anacardium occidentale, bearing kidney-shaped nuts that protrude from a fleshy receptacle
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Also called: cashew nut. the edible nut of this tree
Usage
What does cashew mean? A cashew is an evergreen tree native to the tropical areas of the Americas, as in I took a nap under the shady cashew. The kidney-shaped seed found in the fruit of this tree is also called a cashew, or a cashew nut, as in Chang makes a tasty stir-fry using chicken and cashews. Because most people aren’t botanists or tropical tree growers, you’ll see cashew usually used to mean the seeds rather than the tree. If both items are being discussed, you’ll see references to “cashew trees” and “cashew nuts.”Although they are often referred to as nuts, cashews are actually the seeds found inside of the cashew apples that grow on cashew trees. Example: Roland ate so many cashews as a snack that he didn’t want supper.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cashew
1695–1705; < Portuguese cajú, aphetic variant of acajú < Tupi akaʾiu
Explanation
A cashew is a bushy tree that grows cashew nuts. Roasted, salted cashews make a great snack. While cashews are always categorized with other nuts, they are officially a seed, the size and shape of a kidney bean. Cashew trees are native to Brazil, but they were long ago introduced to India, and cashews are a common ingredient in many South Asian dishes. Cashew is a shortened form of the French acajou, from the Tupi name for the cashew tree, acajuba.
Vocabulary lists containing cashew
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:
Vegans and vegetarians have popularized plant-based milk alternatives — almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, cashew, hemp, coconut; if it grows, it may have a milk version.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
And the industry in general seems reluctant to adopt such “artisanal pizzeria” innovations as lavender-flavored pizza, honey-drenched pizza or vegan pizza made with cashew ricotta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
The exemptions covered other Ghanaian agricultural products including cashew nuts, avocados, bananas, mangoes, plantain, pineapples, coconuts, ginger and peppers, he said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
Ghana is the world's third-biggest exporter of unprocessed cashew nuts, behind Ivory Coast in first place, and Cambodia in second.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2025
There was no pretense at hedges here, no pretense at separation or privacy, just low buildings side by side amid a scattering of stunted shrubs and cashew trees.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
To keep pesto interesting: we’ll switch between pine nuts and cashews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Heaps of old-fashioned oats, raw coconut flakes, chopped cashews and pumpkin seeds amp up the fiber quotient.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
The dark chocolate-covered cashews can also be crushed up and included in homemade cookies or topped on freshly-baked fudgy brownies.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2025
It would make sense for Costco to show its members exactly why the company that sources half the world’s cashews can no longer sell a giant jar for a pittance.
From Slate ● May 2, 2025
Pancha asked, helping herself to the bag of cashews.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
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.
