vegetable
Americannoun
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vegetables
plural
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any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.
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the edible part of such a plant, as the tuber of the potato.
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any member of the plant kingdom; plant.
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Informal. a person who is so severely impaired mentally or physically as to be largely incapable of conscious responses or activity.
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a dull, spiritless, and uninteresting person.
adjective
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of, consisting of, or made from edible vegetables.
a vegetable diet.
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of, relating to, or characteristic of plants.
the vegetable kingdom.
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derived from plants.
vegetable fiber; vegetable oils.
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consisting of, comprising, or containing the substance or remains of plants.
vegetable matter; a vegetable organism.
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of the nature of or resembling a plant.
the vegetable forms of Art Nouveau ornament.
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inactive; inert; dull; uneventful.
a vegetable existence.
noun
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any of various herbaceous plants having parts that are used as food, such as peas, beans, cabbage, potatoes, cauliflower, and onions
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informal a person who has lost control of his mental faculties, limbs, etc, as from an injury, mental disease, etc
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a dull inactive person
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( as modifier )
a vegetable life
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(modifier) consisting of or made from edible vegetables
a vegetable diet
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(modifier) of, relating to, characteristic of, derived from, or consisting of plants or plant material
vegetable oils
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rare any member of the plant kingdom
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A plant that is cultivated for an edible part, such as the leaf of spinach, the root of the carrot, or the stem of celery.
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An edible part of one of these plants.
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See Note at fruit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vegetable
1350–1400; Middle English (adjective) < Late Latin vegetābilis “able to live and grow,” equivalent to vegetā(re) “to quicken” ( see vegetate) + -bilis -ble
Explanation
A vegetable is an edible part of a plant, like a stalk of broccoli, a carrot, or a spinach leaf. With a few exceptions (think French fries), vegetables are just about the healthiest food you can eat. Culinary purists will tell you that some things you think of as vegetables, like tomatoes and zucchinis, aren't vegetables at all — they're fruits, because they have seeds. In general, though, it's fine to refer to the parts of plants used for food as vegetables. The word's original meaning was simply "any plant," and soon it came to mean "plant cultivated for food." Since 1921, it's also been slang for "person leading a monotonous, inactive life."
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:
Vietnam, South Korea and Russia are among the largest export destinations for the vegetable.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
It’s lunchtime at Fountain Grains & Greens in East Hollywood, a counter-service restaurant where customers increasingly prefer their rice and vegetable bowls piled high with hunks of chicken or steak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
A second group of 14 participants received support to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption to 5-a-day using whole fruits and vegetables only.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Gains in cereal, sugar and vegetable oils outweighed declines in meat and dairy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
There were vegetable gardens, cattle and goat pens, and fields of lucerne for the animals.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
The youngest of four children, Kusama grew up in a family that farmed its vast land holdings and sold seeds for fruits, vegetables and flowers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Nitrate is found naturally in many vegetables, especially beetroot and leafy greens such as spinach, rocket, and lettuce.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Chinese state media says investigators will also establish how widespread the practice is and take measures to trace affected vegetables.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
The findings could also help explain why diets rich in vegetables are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
A few poles remained of the village that had once been there, and a few pumpkin mounds with vegetables gone wild.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
