What does "calabash" mean?
A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree.
Calabash
/ˈkaləbaʃ/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree.
- Grammar: calabash is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: bottle gourd, calabash tree, gourd, bottle.
- Usage evidence: Sherlock Holmes is smoking from a calabash pipe.
How to use "calabash"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "calabash" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "calabash" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "calabash" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "calabash" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bottle gourd" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree.
"As we were absolutely destitute of large vessels, to contain and mix liquids, we poured, by means of a tutuma (fruit of crescentia cujete, calabash), the water of the river into one of the holes of the rock. To this we added sugar, and the juice of acid fruits. In a few minutes we had an excellent beverage, which was almost a refinement of luxury in that wild spot; […]"
- 2 a pipe for smoking; has a curved stem and a large bowl made from a calabash gourd wordnet
- 3 The bottle gourd (calabash vine, Lagenaria siceraria), believed to have originated in Africa, which is grown for its fruit that are used as a vegetable and to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this plant.
"The calabash, is a kind of gourd, and belongs to that family of twining plants which were called among the Hebrews, "wild vines," but by the botanists of modern times, the cucurbitaceæ, or cucurbitaceous plants. […] That playful variety of form and magnitude, so remarkable in the calabash, renders it fit for all kinds of uses. Sometimes we have a globular base, terminating in a long neck, and then it answers the purpose of a bottle, and the American fastens it to his girdle, or the pommel of his saddle, when about to pass through regions which abound not in water."
- 4 bottle made from the dried shell of a bottle gourd wordnet
- 5 A container made from the mature, dried shell of the fruit of one of the above plants; also, a similarly shaped container made from some other material.
"On Sunday, Oct. 12. being ſtored vvith all things needful for their Journey, viz. Ten Days Proviſion, a Baſin to boil their Provision in, two Calabaſhes to fetch VVater in, and tvvo great Tallipat Leaves for Tents, with Jaggory, Svveet-meats, Tobacco, Betell, Tinder-Boxes, and a Deer-Skin for Shoes, to keep their Feet from Thorns, becauſe to them they chiefly truſted."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 Old World climbing plant with hard-shelled bottle-shaped gourds as fruits wordnet
- 7 A calabash and its contents; as much as fills such a container.
"Amuta and the twelve-year-old have produced calabashes of palm wine and are busy pouring out healthy drams into the cupped hands of black and white alike."
- 8 tropical American evergreen that produces large round gourds wordnet
- 9 A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made from a calabash fruit.
"The inſtrument moſt in requeſt uſed by the Abundi, being the people of the kingdom of Angola, Matamba, and others, is the Marimba; it conſiſts of ſixteen calabaſhes orderly placed along the middle between two ſide-boards joined together, or a long frame, hanging about a man's neck with a thong. Over the mouths of the calabaſhes there are thin ſounding ſlips of red wood called Tanilla, a little above a ſpan long, which being beaten with two little ſticks, returns a ſound from the calabaſhes of ſeveral ſizes not unlike an organ."
- 10 round gourd of the calabash tree wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Sherlock Holmes is smoking from a calabash pipe."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "calabash"?
Common synonyms include: bottle gourd, calabash tree, gourd, bottle, calabash pipe, canteen.
How do you use "calabash" in a sentence?
Sherlock Holmes is smoking from a calabash pipe.
How do you pronounce "calabash"?
Pronounced /ˈkaləbaʃ/.
Etymology
From French calebasse, from Spanish calabaza (“gourd; pumpkin”), possibly from Arabic قَرْعَةٌ يَابِسَةٌ (qarʕatun yābisatun, “dry gourd”) or directly from its etymon Persian خربزه (xarboze, “melon”), possibly ultimately from Sanskrit त्रपुस (trapusa, “colocynth fruit”) (compare Persian تربزه (tarboze, “watermelon”)). The English word is cognate with Catalan carabassa (“pumpkin; orange colour”), Galician cabaza (“gourd, pumpkin, squash; calabash (container)”), Occitan calebasso, carabasso, carbasso, Portuguese cabaça (“gourd; calabash (container)”), Sicilian caravazza (and caramazza).