From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cucumber \Cu"cum*ber\ (k?`k?m-b?r, formerly kou"k?m-b?r), n.
[OE. cucumer, cocumber, cucumber, fr. L. cucmis,
gen.cucumeris; cf. OF. cocombre,F. concombre.] (Bot.)
A creeping plant, and its fruit, of several species of the
genus {Cucumis}, esp. {Cucumis sativus}, the unripe fruit of
which is eaten either fresh or picked. Also, similar plants
or fruits of several other genera. See below.
[1913 Webster]
{Bitter cucumber} (Bot.), the {Citrullus Colocynthis} syn.
{Cucumis Colocynthis}. See {Colocynth}.
{Cucumber beetle.} (Zool.)
(a) A small, black flea-beetle ({Crepidodera cucumeris}),
which destroys the leaves of cucumber, squash, and melon
vines.
(b) The squash beetle.
{Cucumber tree}.
(a) A large ornamental or shade tree of the genus {Magnolia}
{(Magnolia acuminata)}, so called from a slight
resemblance of its young fruit to a small cucumber.
(b) An East Indian plant ({Averrhoa Bilimbi}) which produces
the fruit known as bilimbi.
{Jamaica cucumber}, {Jerusalem cucumber}, the prickly-fruited
gherkin ({Cucumis Anguria}).
{Snake cucumber}, a species ({Cucumis flexuosus}) remarkable
for its long, curiously-shaped fruit.
{Squirting cucumber}, a plant ({Ecbalium Elaterium}) whose
small oval fruit separates from the footstalk when ripe
and expels its seeds and juice with considerable force
through the opening thus made. See {Elaterium}.
{Star cucumber}, a climbing weed ({Sicyos angulatus}) with
prickly fruit.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
cucumber
n 1: a melon vine of the genus Cucumis; cultivated from earliest
times for its cylindrical green fruit [syn: {cucumber},
{cucumber vine}, {Cucumis sativus}]
2: cylindrical green fruit with thin green rind and white flesh
eaten as a vegetable; related to melons [syn: {cucumber},
{cuke}]
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