cashew
Americannoun
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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.
Etymology
Origin of cashew
1695–1705; < Portuguese cajú, aphetic variant of acajú < Tupi akaʾiu
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.
The soldiers worried they were being tracked, and hid for a while at an isolated cashew farm.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
It is the world's leading producer of cacao, the raw material for cocoa; also produces cashew nuts, and has a thriving oil industry.
From Barron's • Oct. 25, 2025
They have also been affected by habitat loss from human settlements and agriculture especially cashew plantations, corn and rice paddies.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2025
It’s been an eventful time for cashew lovers.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2024
She looked away, at the cashew trees covered in dust, at the sky that curved to the earth in a cloudless wall ahead.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
