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:
In July, FDA traceback and epidemiological evidence linked shredded iceberg lettuce produced by Taylor Farms to a major Cyclospora outbreak.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
The Food and Drug administration traced an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasite-born intestinal disease, to contaminated lettuce grown in Mexico by Salinas-based Taylor Fresh Foods that made its way to Taco Bell.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Taylor Farms was already under scrutiny after it recently recalled its iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico because of the unusually large cyclosporiasis outbreak.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Taylor Farms said it was removing certain products including guacamoles and salsas from grocery shelves over concerns of salmonella contamination, weeks after the produce supplier recalled lettuce implicated in a widespread cyclospora outbreak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
If his face was a supernova before, it became an accretion disc—one of the brightest objects in the universe—as soon as he tasted his lettuce.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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
We grow vegetables and fruit because it’s such a pleasure to step outside and clip lettuces or pluck plums.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2023
‘King Darzin,’ he sniffled, ‘that wicked thief El-ahrairah has said he will steal your lettuces and he is coming to trick you and get into the garden.’
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
