lettuce
Americannoun
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a cultivated plant, Lactuca sativa, occurring in many varieties and having succulent leaves used for salads.
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any species of Lactuca.
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Slang. U.S. dollar bills; greenbacks.
noun
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any of various plants of the genus Lactuca, esp L. sativa, which is cultivated in many varieties for its large edible leaves: family Asteraceae (composites)
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the leaves of any of these varieties, which are eaten in salads
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any of various plants that resemble true lettuce, such as lamb's lettuce and sea lettuce
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lettuce
1250–1300; 1925–30 lettuce for def. 3; Middle English letuse, apparently < Old French laitues, plural of laitue < Latin lactūca a lettuce, perhaps derivative of lac, stem lact- milk, with termination as in erūca rocket 2 (or by association with Greek galaktoûchos having milk)
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:
An employee of the Fremont Taco Bell said they were still serving lettuce and hadn’t had any issues with it at his store.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Cyclospora cayetanensi, the culprit responsible, is a microscopic parasite that attacks the intestinal tract, typically spread by unwashed produce like lettuce and green onions.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Tomatoes and lettuce have climbed 32% and 24.9% year over year, respectively, according to the Consumer Price Index.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Because plant factories allow growers to carefully control these factors, the findings may help support the development of specialized lettuce varieties optimized for indoor cultivation systems.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
And had a piece of lettuce stuck in his teeth.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
These are farm labourers who help to harvest lettuces, cauliflowers, spinach and beans.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025
Nowadays in the early mornings, farmers — many of them descendants of Xochimilco’s original inhabitants — can be seen loading canoes with lettuces and flowers grown in the rich sediments dredged from the canals.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
These include herbs, lettuces, cucumbers, zucchinis, silverbeets, peas, beans and tomatoes.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2023
I always have a ton of bell peppers, chiles and lettuces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
I decided to go instead with a simple salad of lettuces from my garden.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
