a reedlike plant, Zingiber officinale, native to South Asia but now cultivated in many tropical countries, having a pungent, spicy rhizome used in cooking and medicine.
any of various plants related to or similar to Zingiber officinale.
the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, ground, chopped, etc., and used as a flavoring.
Informal. piquancy; animation.
There was plenty of ginger in their performance of the dance.
a yellowish or reddish brown.
to treat or flavor with ginger, the spicy rhizome of the Zingiber officinale plant.
Informal. to impart piquancy or spirit to; enliven (usually followed byup ).
to ginger up a talk with a few jokes.
any of several zingiberaceous plants of the genus Zingiber, esp Z. officinale of the East Indies, cultivated throughout the tropics for its spicy hot-tasting underground stem See also galangal Compare wild ginger
the underground stem of this plant, which is used fresh or powdered as a flavouring or crystallized as a sweetmeat
any of certain related plants
a reddish-brown or yellowish-brown colour
( as adjective )
ginger hair
informal liveliness; vigour
informal a person with ginger hair
First recorded before 1000; Middle English ginger, gingivere from Old French gingivre, from Latin gingiber, for zingiberi from Greek zingíberis; replacing Old English gingiber from Latin, as above
Ginger is a plant with a thick root that's used to spice food. You can make homemade ginger ale using grated ginger. Ginger is an important spice all over the world, appearing in things like ginger beer, ginger bread, many Indian dishes, Chinese food, and ginger tea. Since ginger is native to South Asia, it's most commonly found in countries on that continent. Many people use ginger as a home remedy or medicine, as well as a food. In Britain, and increasingly in the US, it's common to describe red hair as ginger.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"How did the spiders choose an invasive species and ginger exactly?"
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
But I gamely soldiered back into the sunlight and onto the pathways that line the National Mall, each ginger step kicking up dust.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
In one academic study, black hair was found to be 15 times more absorbent than ginger hair.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
Cook ground chicken in a pan with garlic, ginger, and soy sauce.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
When I passed through the divider, I felt a tingling sensation from head to toe, and the scents of lemon, ginger, and fresh air washed over me.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
"I was on high doses of vitamin C, vitamin D, turmeric, a special de-bloat supplement and I would regularly drink water with electrolytes in," Ginger explains.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
It followed Ginger Wildheart's recent cancer diagnosis, with the singer refusing treatment and vowing to keep going.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
Ginger is an adjunct professor at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she has taught for several years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Ginger began her career working for WNYC/NPR and then joined the New York Post as a writer and editor, before moving to the NY Daily News.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
And Hamilton Knapp did not know that Arnold, not Ginger, was about to consume them.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
