gourd

/ɡʊəd/ (bre, ipa) · /ɡʊrd/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈgȯrd ˈgu̇rd/ (ame, mw)

gourd — noun

  • gourdsingular
  • gourdsplural

1. a round fruit with a tough outer layer that people do not eat. Once dried, the h

1.名詞C1
釋義

a round fruit with a tough outer layer that people do not eat. Once dried, the hollow shell is often turned into a bowl, bottle, or musical instrument.

例句

Trang scooped the seeds out of a large green gourd before drying its shell.

collocation: scoop seeds out of a gourd

Painted gourds hung from the rafters of the village market in Oaxaca.

plural form for decorative objects

同義詞
  • calabash

    specific kind of bottle gourd often used as a vessel

  • pepo

    botanical term for the hard-rinded berry of this fruit family

用法筆記

Refers to the fruit itself or its dried, hollow shell — context tells the reader which. Often modified by an adjective of origin or use (bottle gourd, dipper gourd, ornamental gourd).

常見錯誤

❌I ate a roasted gourd with butter.
✅I ate a roasted squash with butter.
💡true gourds are inedible; cooking-friendly relatives like squash or pumpkin take a different word.

2. a climbing or trailing plant in the Cucurbitaceae family — the same plant group

2.名詞C2
釋義

a climbing or trailing plant in the Cucurbitaceae family — the same plant group as cucumbers, melons, squashes, and pumpkins — that produces hard-skinned fruit on long curling stems.

例句

Isabela trained the young gourds up a wooden frame at the back of her garden.

gourd as the trailing/climbing plant

Cucumbers, pumpkins, and watermelons all belong to the gourd family.

family-name usage in plant classification

同義詞
  • cucurbit

    technical botanical term covering the same plant family

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: here the word names the whole vine, not its fruit. Common in horticultural or botanical writing; daily speech usually picks the specific plant name (cucumber, pumpkin) instead.