vegetable

vegetable
n. & adj.
—n.
1 Bot. any of various plants, esp. a herbaceous plant used wholly or partly for food, e.g. a cabbage, potato, turnip, or bean.
2 colloq. a a person who is incapable of normal intellectual activity, esp. through brain injury etc. b a person lacking in animation or living a monotonous life.
—adj.
1 of, derived from, relating to, or comprising plants or plant life, esp. as distinct from animal life or mineral substances.
2 of or relating to vegetables as food.
3 a unresponsive to stimulus (vegetable behaviour). b uneventful, monotonous (a vegetable existence).
Phrases and idioms:
vegetable butter a vegetable fat with the consistency of butter. vegetable ivory see IVORY. vegetable marrow see MARROW 1. vegetable oyster = SALSIFY. vegetable parchment see PARCHMENT 2. vegetable spaghetti
1 a variety of marrow with flesh resembling spaghetti.
2 its flesh. vegetable sponge = LOOFAH. vegetable tallow see TALLOW. vegetable wax an exudation of certain plants such as sumac.
Etymology: ME f. OF vegetable or LL vegetabilis animating (as VEGETATE)

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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  • Vegetable — Veg e*ta*ble, a. [F. v[ e]g[ e]table growing, capable of growing, formerly also, as a noun, a vegetable, from L. vegetabilis enlivening, from vegetare to enliven, invigorate, quicken, vegetus enlivened, vigorous, active, vegere to quicken, arouse …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • végétable — ⇒VÉGÉTABLE, adj. Rare, vieilli. [Corresp. à végéter A] Qui peut végéter. Cet arbre est sec, il n y a plus rien de végétable, ni dans le tronc, ni dans la racine (Ac. 1798 1878). Prononc. et Orth.:[ ]. Att. ds Ac. 1694 1878. Ac. 1694, 1718: vege …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • vegetable — [vej′tə bəl, vej′ə təbəl] adj. [ME < ML vegetabilis, vegetative, capable of growth < LL, animating, enlivening < L vegetare: see VEGETATE] 1. of, or having the nature of, plants in general [the vegetable kingdom] 2. of, having the nature …   English World dictionary

  • vegetable — (del lat. «vegetabĭlis») adj. y n. m. Vegetal. * * * vegetable. (Del lat. vegetabĭlis). adj. p. us. vegetal. U. t. c. s. m …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • vegetable — Vegetable. adj. de t. g. Qui peut vegeter. Cet arbre est sec, il n y a plus rien de vegetable ny dans le tronc ny dans la racine …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Vegetable — Veg e*ta*ble, n. 1. (Biol.) A plant. See {Plant}. [1913 Webster] 2. A plant used or cultivated for food for man or domestic animals, as the cabbage, turnip, potato, bean, dandelion, etc.; also, the edible part of such a plant, as prepared for… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • vegetable — [n] edible part of plant edible, green, greens, herb, herbaceous plant, legume, produce, root, salad, truck, yellow; concept 431 …   New thesaurus

  • vegetable — (Del lat. vegetabĭlis). adj. p. us. vegetal. U. t. c. s. m.) …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • vegetable — ► NOUN 1) a plant or part of a plant used as food. 2) informal, derogatory a person who is incapable of normal mental or physical activity, especially through brain damage. ORIGIN originally in the sense «growing as a plant»: from Latin… …   English terms dictionary

  • Vegetable — For other uses, see Vegetable (disambiguation). Farmers market showing vegetable …   Wikipedia

  • vegetable — /vej teuh beuhl, vej i teuh /, n. 1. 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. 2. the edible part of such a… …   Universalium

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