gherkin

[ gur-kin ]
See synonyms for gherkin on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the small, immature fruit of a variety of cucumber, used in pickling.

  2. Also called bur gherkin, gooseberry gourd, West Indian gherkin . the small, spiny fruit of a tropical vine, Cucumis anguria, of the gourd family, used in pickling.

  1. the plant yielding this fruit.

  2. a small pickle, especially one made from this fruit.

Origin of gherkin

1
1655–65; <Dutch gurken, plural of gurk (German Gurke) <Slavic; compare Polish ogórek,Czech okurka ≪ Persian

Words Nearby gherkin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gherkin in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gherkin (1 of 2)

gherkin

/ (ˈɡɜːkɪn) /


noun
  1. the immature fruit of any of various cucumbers, used for pickling

    • a tropical American cucurbitaceous climbing plant, Cucumis anguria

    • the small edible fruit of this plant

Origin of gherkin

1
C17: from early modern Dutch agurkkijn, diminutive of gurk, from Slavonic, ultimately from Greek angourion

British Dictionary definitions for Gherkin (2 of 2)

Gherkin

/ (ˈɡɜːkɪn) /


noun
  1. the Gherkin an informal name for Swiss Re Tower

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012