cucumber
Americannoun
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cucumbers
plural
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a creeping plant, Cucumis sativus, of the gourd family, occurring in many cultivated forms.
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the edible, fleshy fruit of this plant, of a cylindrical shape with rounded ends and having a green, warty skin.
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any of various allied or similar plants.
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the fruit of any such plant.
noun
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a creeping cucurbitaceous plant, Cucumis sativus, cultivated in many forms for its edible fruit Compare squirting cucumber
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the cylindrical fruit of this plant, which has hard thin green rind and white crisp flesh
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any of various similar or related plants or their fruits
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very calm; self-possessed
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cucumber
1350–1400; Middle English cucumbre < Anglo-French, Old French co ( u ) combre < Latin cucumer-, stem of cucumis; replacing Middle English, Old English cucumer < Latin, as above
Explanation
A cucumber plant is a vine that grows the long, green gourds used to make pickles. Cucumbers are also commonly sliced and added to salads. You may think of cucumbers as vegetables, but they are actually fruits, belonging to the melon family. Raw cucumbers are slightly crunchy and make a great addition to salads and sandwiches, but their flesh is too delicate for cooking. The phrase "cool as a cucumber," or calmly unruffled, comes from the plant's tendency to remain cool in the garden even on a hot day. Before the 18th century, they were known as cowcumbers.
Vocabulary lists containing cucumber
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:
Her Honor just needed to do more of the same: hail her own accomplishments, deliver well-timed zingers and keep as cool as a cucumber while baiting Raman into self-immolation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Would you buy a cauliflower that looks like it's been sunburnt or a cucumber that's curled back on itself?
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
“I’m feeling cool as a cucumber in those moments,” Nolan recalled in a recent interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The smoky cucumber salad offers a refreshing contrast, while the pork belly rice bowl is rich and satisfying enough to stand as a meal on its own.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
The sandwiches were white, crustless, but not cucumber or watercress.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Growers are also reporting cucumbers that are coming out misshapen, with some bending back into a spiral.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
At this rainforest-like indoor farm, where creatures such as coral, tropical fish and sea cucumbers inhabit different aquariums, Kinjo bred "miracle coral" with extra resistance to warmer water.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
He grows about 60 different crops, including herbs such as rosemary and thyme, heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers, and pick-your-own strawberries and flowers.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
That’s bad news for his company, Clovergrass Produce, and its crop of soybeans, cucumbers, peanuts and corn plus his herd of beef cattle.
From Salon ● May 15, 2026
They were all wildly hungry and one suggested they raid the factory’s vegetable garden, where there were cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant, and radishes.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
