gourd
Americannoun
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the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria white-flowered gourd, or bottle gourd, whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo yellow-flowered gourd, used ornamentally.
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a plant bearing such a fruit.
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a dried and excavated gourd shell used as a bottle, dipper, flask, etc.
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a gourd-shaped, small-necked bottle or flask.
idioms
noun
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the fruit of any of various cucurbitaceous or similar plants, esp the bottle gourd and some squashes, whose dried shells are used for ornament, drinking cups, etc
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any plant that bears this fruit See also sour gourd dishcloth gourd calabash
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a bottle or flask made from the dried shell of the bottle gourd
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a small bottle shaped like a gourd
Other Word Forms
- gourd-shaped adjective
- gourdlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of gourd
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English gourd(e), courde, from Anglo-French ( Old French cöorde ), from Latin cucurbita
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 gourd was used as a buoyancy aid and a place to put the catch.
From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026
While she prefers traditional orange, Torres isn’t afraid of a more ghostly gourd.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025
"The bottle gourd variation map and pangenome that we created provide valuable resources for future functional studies and genomics-assisted breeding," added Professor Zhangjun Fei, the study's lead author.
From Science Daily • Mar. 20, 2024
Still used today by West Africans, the instrument's main parts are a gourd, and a stick attachment and a bridge for its three to four strings, paralleling a modern banjo.
From Salon • Feb. 15, 2024
Instinctively, she reached into her shoulder bag, fingers wrapping around the neck of the old water gourd.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
