parsnip
Americannoun
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a plant, Pastinaca sativa, cultivated varieties of which have a large, whitish, edible root.
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the root of this plant.
noun
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a strong-scented umbelliferous plant, Pastinaca sativa, cultivated for its long whitish root
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the root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
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any of several similar plants, esp the cow parsnip
Etymology
Origin of parsnip
1350–1400; earlier pars ( e ) nep, pass ( e ) nep, Middle English pas ( t ) nep ( e ) < Latin past ( ināca ) parsnip (derivative of pastinum forked dibble) + Middle English nep turnip; see neep
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.
They banked almost 500,000 seeds from 19 species, including relatives of lettuce, parsnip, strawberry, radish, quinoa, blackberry, alfalfa and several species used as fodder crops for livestock.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026
There were oysters, salmon with Hollandaise sauce, beef, squab, duck, roast chicken, green peas, parsnip purée and Victoria pudding.
From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2023
The first plants to grow back, including huckleberry, cow parsnip and horsetail, are often plants that grizzlies like to eat.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2023
Instead of keeping my own parsnip, which I always do, I'm pushing in the odd other variety.
From Salon • Sep. 11, 2022
In the old days, people had carried around these little chunks of wild parsnip root to protect themselves from poisonous snakes, and so what if rattlesnakes had always been as rare as money in Milagro?
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
