squash
n. C / Un. a large vegetable with a thick skin and seeds inside that you cook and eat. Common types include pumpkins and butternuts.
n. a fleshy fruit of various plants in the gourd family, typically treated as a vegetable in culinary contexts. Refers to both the plant and the edible fruit.
I am making a soup with roasted squash.
The farmer harvested several varieties of winter squash to sell at the local market before the first frost.
While summer varieties are harvested while their skins are still tender, winter squash is left on the vine until the rind hardens, allowing for long-term storage throughout the colder months.
From Middle English squachen, squatchen, from Old French esquacher, escachier, from Vulgar Latin excoāctiāre, from Latin ex + coāctāre. Probably influenced by Middle English quashen, quassen, from Old French esquasser, escasser (“to crush, shatter, destroy, break”), from Vulgar Latin exquassare, from Latin ex- + quassare (“to shatter”) (see quash).
Shortening of Narragansett askutasquash (“[a vegetable] eaten green (or raw)”), from askut (“green, raw”) + asquash (“eaten”).
Clipping of musquash.
Uncountable when referring to the food as a substance; countable when referring to the individual plants or specific varieties.