spinach
Americannoun
-
a plant, Spinacia oleracea, cultivated for its edible, crinkly or flat leaves.
-
the leaves.
noun
-
a chenopodiaceous annual plant, Spinacia oleracea, cultivated for its dark green edible leaves
-
the leaves of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spinach
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English spinache, spinage, spinarch, from Anglo-French spinache, from Old French espinache, espinage, espinoche, from Medieval Latin spinargium, spinachium, spinarchium, ultimately from Arabic isfānākh, isfināj, perhaps from Persian isfānāj, ispānāk, aspānāk
Explanation
Spinach is a leafy green edible plant. The most famous spinach eater is probably Popeye, the cartoon sailor who grows huge, strong arm muscles after eating it. There are many different ways to prepare spinach, from raw in a salad to sauteed with spices and cheese in the Indian dish saag paneer. If you don't pick a spinach plant's leaves, it sprouts white flowers and grows almost a foot tall. Spinach comes from the Old French espinache, with its Persian root, aspanakh — both also mean "spinach."
Vocabulary lists containing spinach
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.
If I’ve started the day too late I will only do the protein without banana or spinach in it until showtime, and then I’m really hungry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
I like sprucing up my ramen with fresh bok choy, baby corn, spinach and pickled red onions.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Benedette Hardwick, the owner of the Red B Restaurant in Idabel, Okla., said the restaurant had temporarily stopped serving things like kale, parsley, green onion, raw broccoli, spinach and cilantro.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
We’re big on breakfast for dinner, so maybe we’d have some poached eggs on toast or poached eggs on creamed spinach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Pascal and Patrice helped me scratch up a little plot that eventually produced a few bleak, dusty bouquets of spinach and beans, which were gobbled up one night by our neighbor’s goat.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
