water chestnut

noun

1
: any of a genus (Trapa, especially T. natans of the family Lythraceae, the loosestrife family) of Old World aquatic herbs sometimes grown as ornamentals
also : its edible nutlike spiny fruit
2
: a whitish crunchy vegetable used especially in Chinese cooking that is the peeled and often sliced tuber of a sedge (Eleocharis dulcis synonym E. tuberosa) native to Asia but widely cultivated elsewhere
also : the tuber or the sedge itself

Examples of water chestnut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Get The Recipe 02 of 42 Hot Chicken Salad This old-school dish combines creamy chicken salad with pimientos, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 16 Apr. 2024 The city’s first Michelin Green Star restaurant, Seroja, sources many ingredients from the island and neighboring Malaysia and uses vegetable trimmings to create nonalcoholic drinks, such as a refreshing cocktail of watercress, sansho pepper, and water chestnut. Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 8 Apr. 2024 Cooking easily ruptures cells in, say, spinach and zucchini, but cassava (Manihot esculenta) or Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) is much more resistant. Rob Dunn, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2013 To see them is to preview the flavor of some dumplings; ground duck, cilantro and water chestnuts are visible inside their sheer orbs. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023 See all Example Sentences for water chestnut 

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of water chestnut was in 1597

Dictionary Entries Near water chestnut

Cite this Entry

“Water chestnut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20chestnut. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

water chestnut

noun
: a whitish crunchy vegetable used especially in Chinese cooking that is the peeled underground stem of an Asian sedge
also : the sedge or its underground stem

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