Turnip
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The white root of a yellow-flowered plant, Brassica rapa, grown as a vegetable and as fodder for cattle.
"The ancient Roman gastronomists considered the turnip, when prepared in the following manner, a dish fit for epicures: "After boiling, extract the water from them, and season with cummin, rue, or benzoin, pounded in a mortar; afterward add honey, vinegar, gravy, and boiled grapes. Allow the whole to simmer, and serve.""
- 2 root of any of several members of the mustard family wordnet
- 3 The yellow root of a related plant, the swede or Brassica napus. Atlantic-Canada, Cornwall, Ireland, Northern-England, Scotland
- 4 widely cultivated plant having a large fleshy edible white or yellow root wordnet
- 5 The white root of Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also known as a daikon. Hong-Kong
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- 6 The root of the yam bean, Pachyrhizus erosus; jicama. Malaysia, Singapore, broadly
- 7 Clipping of turnip watch abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, dated
- 8 A fool or simpleton. slang
""Dost thou not believe, thou twittering turnip?""
- 1 To plant with turnips. transitive
"This identical field has been turniped before, and to good account, in a favourable winter."
- 2 To feed or graze (livestock) on turnips. transitive
"The Leicesters and half-breds are purchased by farmers who keep no breeding stock: they are well turniped during the winter, and clipped and fattened in the following season."
Example
More examples"The gardener won first prize for the largest turnip grown in the spring harvest."
Etymology
From Middle English turnepe, probably from turn + Middle English nepe, from Old English nǣp, from Latin nāpus. The component turn may be due to the round shape of the plant as though turned on a lathe, or because it must be turned and twisted to be harvested. Cognate to neep. See also parsnip.
Related phrases
More for "turnip"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.