perishable

American  

[per-i-shuh-buhl] / ˈpɛr ɪ ʃə bəl /

adjective

1. subject to decay, ruin, or destruction.

   perishable fruits and vegetables.

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noun

1. Usually perishables. something perishable, especially food.

perishable British  

/ ˈpɛrɪʃəbəl /

adjective

1. liable to rot or wither

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noun

1. (often plural) a perishable article, esp food

Usage

What does perishable mean? Perishable is used to describe an item, usually food, that typically spoils within a relatively short amount of time, such as fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products.Such items are often simply called perishables. (When used as a noun, the term is most commonly plural.)The term is often contrasted with nonperishables—food items that can be stored for a long time without spoiling, like dried grains, beans, and pasta.Perishable foods need to be specially stored (like in a refrigerator) or eaten relatively quickly. Nonperishables, on the other hand, are things that will last a long time without refrigeration or other special storage.Example: Let’s try to eat all the perishables before we go on vacation—we don’t want to come back to spoiled milk and rotting tomatoes.

Other Word Forms

• perishability noun
• perishableness noun
• perishably adverb
• unperishable adjective

Etymology

Origin of perishable

First recorded in 1605–15; perish + -able

Example Sentences

More than 70 percent of those exports, worth $1.4 billion, are perishable farm goods such as figs, pistachios, grapes and pomegranates.

From Barron's

“What we really notice is that sometimes people use our perishable business as a way to supplement a family tradition of recipes,” said spokesperson Kendall Coleman.

From The Wall Street Journal

What’s more, she said, when people feel unsure about their finances, highly perishable items such as fresh, healthy food are often the first things sacrificed because they can be more expensive.

From Los Angeles Times

She’s spent her whole life being cared for by android robots while her parents are away, and stockpiling perishable resources and doomsday goods for when wildfires become too widespread to ignore.

From Salon

As part of that effort, the company created a program known as Project Fusion, according to people familiar with the matter, which entails Whole Foods workers fulfilling certain perishable orders placed on Amazon.com.

From The Wall Street Journal