turnip
Americannoun
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the thick, fleshy, edible root of either of two plants of the mustard family, the white-fleshed Brassica rapa rapifera or the yellow-fleshed rutabaga.
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the plant itself.
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the root of this plant used as a vegetable.
noun
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a widely cultivated plant, Brassica rapa , of the Mediterranean region, with a large yellow or white edible root: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)
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the root of this plant, which is eaten as a vegetable
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any of several similar or related plants
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another name for kohlrabi
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of turnip
1525–35; earlier turnep(e) , equivalent to turn (with reference to its neatly rounded shape) + nepe neep
Compare meaning
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Explanation
A turnip is a slightly bitter-flavored root vegetable. In Japan, it's common to pickle turnips and serve them as a cold snack or in a stir fry with other vegetables. You can recognize a turnip by its roundish shape and its white color, often accented at the top by pink or purple. Turnips also have green leaves that can be cooked and eaten. Some people also call rutabagas turnips, although these are actually a cross between a turnip and cabbage. Experts think the turn part of turnip stems from the idea that it looks like it's been turned, or rotated and shaped, on a lathe.
Vocabulary lists containing turnip
"The Secret Water"
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The Boxcar Children
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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.
About all he can tell us of daily life in the 16th century is that Muscovites loved turnip pie, had few chairs, and that glass was not to be had.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Boonthom had noticed her packing the harvested fruit — a turnip variety Yo describes as a “cross between a potato and an apple” — and had been love-struck.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2023
Mom’s Kitchen, located in the once-safe neighborhood where Norris grew up, is a casual place serving baked chicken, turnip greens and candied sweet potatoes.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2023
"Now they're just squeezing us so hard, like blood out of a turnip."
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2022
When the last turnip was gone, I tore open Gran’s mattress and started spinning the straw inside.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
