vetch
Americannoun
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any of several mostly climbing plants belonging to the genus Vicia, of the legume family, having pinnate leaves ending in tendrils and bearing pealike flowers, especially V. sativa spring vetch, cultivated for forage and soil improvement.
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any of various allied plants, as Lathyrus sativus, of Europe, cultivated for their edible seeds and for forage.
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the beanlike seed or fruit of any such plant.
noun
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any of various climbing leguminous plants of the temperate genus Vicia, esp V. sativa, having pinnate leaves, typically blue or purple flowers, and tendrils on the stems
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any of various similar and related plants, such as Lathyrus sativus, cultivated in parts of Europe, and the kidney vetch
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the beanlike fruit of any of these plants
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vetch
1325–75; Middle English ve ( c ) che < Anglo-French; Old French vecce ( French vesce ) < Latin vicia
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.
Alongside their release, the authority have planted suitable plants for the birds to feed on - including "weedy" wildflowers like fumitory and vetch.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
That specificity poses a problem: Deerweed and milk vetch are disturbance plants, which means they require some kind of soil disturbance — like fire — to sprout and outgrow the other plants around them.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2023
Another is cover cropping, which involves planting crops such as oats or hairy vetch during the winter so fields never lay bare and exposed.
From Scientific American ● May 10, 2023
Planting cover crops such as cowpeas and vetch, for example, boosts soil carbon on average each year by one-third of a ton per hectare, according to a 2015 meta-analysis in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 16, 2022
I filled a jar with water and put the vetch into it, thinking, Please let this be the right one.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
