Cucumber \Cu"cum*ber\ (k?`k?m-b?r, formerly kou"k?m-b?r), n.
[OE. cucumer, cocumber, cucumber, fr. L. cucmis,
gen.cucumeris; cf. OF. cocombre,F. concombre.] (Bot.)
A creeping plant, and its fruit, of several species of the
genus Cucumis, esp. Cucumis sativus, the unripe fruit of
which is eaten either fresh or picked. Also, similar plants
or fruits of several other genera. See below.
[1913 Webster]
Bitter cucumber (Bot.), the Citrullus Colocynthis syn.
Cucumis Colocynthis. See Colocynth.
Cucumber beetle. (Zool.)
(a) A small, black flea-beetle (Crepidodera cucumeris),
which destroys the leaves of cucumber, squash, and melon
vines.
(b) The squash beetle.
Cucumber tree.
(a) A large ornamental or shade tree of the genus Magnolia
(Magnolia acuminata), so called from a slight
resemblance of its young fruit to a small cucumber.
(b) An East Indian plant (Averrhoa Bilimbi) which produces
the fruit known as bilimbi.
Jamaica cucumber, Jerusalem cucumber, the prickly-fruited
gherkin (Cucumis Anguria).
Snake cucumber, a species (Cucumis flexuosus) remarkable
for its long, curiously-shaped fruit.
Squirting cucumber, a plant (Ecbalium Elaterium) whose
small oval fruit separates from the footstalk when ripe
and expels its seeds and juice with considerable force
through the opening thus made. See Elaterium.
Star cucumber, a climbing weed (Sicyos angulatus) with
prickly fruit.
[1913 Webster]
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