Cucumber
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A vine in the gourd family, Cucumis sativus. countable, uncountable
"ASPARAGUS, cauliflowers, imperial Sileſia, royal and cabbage lettuces, burnet, purſlain, cucumbers, naſturtian flowers, peaſe and beans ſown in October, artichokes, ſcarlet ſtrawberries, and kidney beans."
- 2 cylindrical green fruit with thin green rind and white flesh eaten as a vegetable; related to melons wordnet
- 3 The edible fruit of this plant, having a green rind and crisp white flesh. countable, uncountable
"[…]for it has been a common ſaying of phyſicians in England, that a cucumber ſhould be well ſliced, and dreſſed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing."
- 4 a melon vine of the genus Cucumis; cultivated from earliest times for its cylindrical green fruit wordnet
- 5 A person who is calm and self-possessed. countable, figuratively, informal, uncountable
"The guy's a real cucumber."
Example
More examples"A cucumber is related to a watermelon."
Etymology
From Middle English cucumer, cucumber, from Old French cocombre, ultimately from Latin cucumis, cucumerem (possibly through an Old Occitan intermediate). Probably of Pre-Italic substrate origin.
Related phrases
More for "cucumber"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.