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gourd definition

gourd (gôrd, go̵ord)

adjective

designating a family (Cucurbitaceae, order Violales) of dicotyledonous plants, including the squash, melon, cucumber, and pumpkin

Etymology: ME gourde < OFr gouorde < L cucurbita

noun

  1. any trailing or climbing plant belonging to the gourd family
  2. any of the ornamental, inedible fruits of these or related plants, esp. of a yellow-flowered variety (Cucurbita pepo ovifera) of the pumpkin
  3. ☆ the dried, hollowed-out shell of such a fruit, used as a drinking cup, dipper, etc.
  4. Slang the head: usually in the phrase out of one's gourd, crazy, foolish, etc.

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

gourd Synonyms

gourd

n.

  1. A melon

    squash, calabash, pumpkin; see melon.

  2. A cup

    bottle, dipper, flask; see cup.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

gourd Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • ash: They said the gourd of ashes will fall from the air.

Converse of object

  • carry: In her right hand, she carries a gourd rattle.

Adjective modifier

  • bitter: This cooling breeze, these strips of bitter gourd filled with fish paste, this ice-cold soy milk - they are real all right.

Modifies a noun

  • family: Early Cucumber The cucumber is the fleshy fruit of the gourd family originally from northern India.

Noun used with modifier

  • bottle: In early Peruvian civilisations, bottle gourds were even used in head surgery.
gourd usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"gourd." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/gourd>

APA Style

gourd. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/gourd

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