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gumbo

1 American  
[guhm-boh] / ˈgʌm boʊ /

noun

plural

gumbos

  1. a stew or thick soup, usually made with chicken or seafood, greens, and okra or sometimes filé as a thickener.

  2. okra.

  3. soil that becomes sticky and nonporous when wet.

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or like gumbo.

Gumbo 2 American  
[guhm-boh] / ˈgʌm boʊ /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

  1. a French patois spoken by Black and Creole people in Louisiana and the French West Indies.

gumbo 1 British  
/ ˈɡʌmbəʊ /

noun

  1. the mucilaginous pods of okra

  2. another name for okra

  3. a soup or stew thickened with okra pods

  4. a fine soil in the W prairies that becomes muddy when wet

"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
Gumbo 2 British  
/ ˈɡʌmbəʊ /

noun

  1. (sometimes not capital) a French patois spoken by Creoles in Louisiana and the Caribbean

"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

Etymology

Origin of gumbo1

1795–1805, < Louisiana French gombo, gumbo < a Bantu language; compare Umbundu ochinggombo, Luba chinggombo okra

Origin of Gumbo2

First recorded in 1835–40; probably from the same source as gumbo ( def. )

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.

His gumbo recipe, for example, calls for two pouches each of smoked clams, oysters and mackerel along with white rice, oregano, cumin and chile peppers.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2025

In the case of gumbo or succotash, it is a good thing.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2025

Luckily the street is an artists’ enclave, with some opening their homes up for Hantman’s dinner receptions — one in January served gumbo family-style two doors down at a local artist’s Midcentury Modern house.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 29, 2024

As the bits and pieces of this great big gumbo of a country come together, new and surprising things are created.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2024

The aroma of Mississippi-style gumbo, shrimp and grits, and peach cobbler cinnamon rolls is enough to make me hungry too, but JP doesn’t seem to care about food.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

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.