lettuce
Americannoun
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lettuces
plural
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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:
Federal health officials have linked one outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce from a Mexican supplier for Taco Bell restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Nitrate is found naturally in many vegetables, especially beetroot and leafy greens such as spinach, rocket, and lettuce.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
At the Unitree booth, a robot made a sandwich with two slices of bread and a single piece of lettuce, pinching the leaf to assemble it.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
“I’m in a panic over this lettuce situation,” she admits, referring to the cyclosporiasis outbreaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
He tore off a piece of lettuce from his sandwich and pushed it through the bars.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
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
I always have a ton of bell peppers, chilies and lettuces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Also, please dry your lettuces throughly and completely!
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023
They’d worked tending eggplants and lettuces in the camp garden.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
