chestnut

[ ches-nuht, -nuht ]

noun

1. any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentata American chestnut, which has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, C. sativa European chestnut, C. mollissima Chinese chestnut, and C. crenata Japanese chestnut.
2. the edible nut of such a tree.
3. the wood of any of these trees.
4. any fruit or tree resembling the chestnut, as the horse chestnut.
5. reddish brown.
6. an old or stale joke, anecdote, etc.
7. the callosity on the inner side of the leg of a horse.
8. a reddish-brown horse having the mane and tail of the same color. Compare bay ⁵( def 2 ).
9. Also called liver chestnut. a horse of a solid, dark-brown color.

adjective

1. being reddish-brown in color.
2. (of food) containing or made with chestnuts:

   turkey with chestnut stuffing.

chestnut

/ ˈtʃɛsˌnʌt /

noun

1. See dwarf chestnut, water chestnut, horse chestnut
   any N temperate fagaceous tree of the genus Castanea, such as C. sativa ( sweet or Spanish chestnut ), which produce flowers in long catkins and nuts in a prickly bur Compare horse chestnut water chestnut dwarf chestnut
2. the edible nut of any of these trees
3. the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc
4. 1. a reddish-brown to brown colour
   2. ( as adjective )

      chestnut hair

5. a horse of a yellow-brown or golden-brown colour
6. a small horny callus on the inner surface of a horse's leg
7. informal.
   an old or stale joke

Other Words From

• chestnutty adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of chestnut¹

1350–1400; 1880–85 chestnut fordef 6; earlier chesten nut, Middle English chesten, Old English cysten chestnut tree (< Latin castanea < Greek kastanéa ) + nut

Word History and Origins

Origin of chestnut¹

C16: from earlier chesten nut: chesten, from Old French chastaigne, from Latin castanea, from Greek kastanea

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire, to rescue someone from a difficulty.

More idioms and phrases containing chestnut

see old chestnut .

Example Sentences

A new play version from London of the chestnut “A Christmas Carol” was runner-up, with five awards.

From Washington Post

Whether we’ll be drinking soda sweetened with chestnut syrup anytime soon remains to be seen.

From Science News

Molly was a chestnut saddlebred, prone to shying and taking off at a gallop and pinning her ears and snapping at other horses.

From Outside Online

They say that whatever you’re doing on New Year’s is what you’ll be doing for the rest of the year, and in the case of The Circle, that chestnut proved spookily accurate.

From Time

Along the way, Amar delivers brilliant chestnuts of interpretation, arguing for instance that revolutionary Americans experimented with ideas that anticipated some elements of the British dominion system.

From Washington Post

Spoiler: you may think twice before getting another Grande Chestnut Praline Latte.

From The Daily Beast

Chestnut was last, carried on a yellow chariot through a sea of adoring fans.

From The Daily Beast

Joey Chestnut nearly lost his seven-year grip on the craziest, wildest, most awesome competitive eating experience in the world.

From The Daily Beast

After topping Chestnut numerous times this season, and based on his early pace it looks like David might actually trump Goliath.

From The Daily Beast

The animal was so underfed that his ribs were showing under his lusterless chestnut coat.

From The Daily Beast

Alas, its colour was other than the deep chestnut bronze of Georgie Haggard's.

From Project Gutenberg

Jess' chestnut hair was long and silky and nicely braided, but she never murmured as it came off too.

From Project Gutenberg

As it was, he could not resist opening one eye the slightest crack to see the bright chestnut hair as it passed out of sight.

From Project Gutenberg

"Hal" and "Teddy" and "Chestnut" are very tired for they have been pulling the plough, the wagon, or doing some farm work all day.

From Project Gutenberg

The three happy children could see them way up in the old chestnut tree over on the edge of their neighbour's wood.

From Project Gutenberg