butternut
butternut — noun
- butternutsingular
- butternutsplural
1. a large vegetable with pale-brown skin, a long curved neck, and a round bottom;
a large vegetable with pale-brown skin, a long curved neck, and a round bottom; when cooked, its bright orange inside tastes mildly sweet
Mira roasted a butternut with rosemary and garlic for Sunday dinner.
countable: a butternut (the whole vegetable)
The knife slipped as Walid tried to peel the tough skin off the butternut.
A simple soup of butternut and ginger warms the whole house on cold evenings.
Sora added cubes of roasted butternut to the salad with feta cheese and walnuts.
Lucas cut the butternut into cubes and roasted the pieces in oil for a salad.
- winter squash
a broader category that includes butternut, acorn squash, and other varieties
- pumpkin
similar in cooking use but different in shape and slightly sweeter taste
2. a tall walnut-family tree from eastern North America that grows sweet egg-shaped
a tall walnut-family tree from eastern North America that grows sweet egg-shaped nuts inside green husks and provides soft light-brown wood for furniture and carvings
The old butternut in Renata's backyard drops sweet nuts every autumn.
countable: a specific tree
Quinn carved a small stool from butternut wood, admiring its pale colour and fine grain.
butternut wood as material
Small squirrels scurried beneath the butternut, gathering fallen nuts for winter.
Owen planted a young butternut by his shed, hoping to carve the wood.
Tall butternut trees along the river, planted fifty years ago, drop sweet nuts for squirrels each autumn.
- white walnut
the common alternative name for Juglans cinerea, referring to the pale colour of the wood
- walnut tree
a broader family name; butternut is a specific species within the walnut genus