Pumpkin Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms pumpkin American [puhmp-kin, puhng-kin] / ˈpʌmp kɪn, ˈpʌŋ kɪn /

noun

1. a large, edible, orange-yellow fruit borne by a coarse, decumbent vine, Cucurbita pepo, of the gourd family.

2. the similar fruit of any of several related species, as C. maxima or C. moschata.

3. a plant bearing such fruit.

pumpkin British / ˈpʌmpkɪn /

noun

1. any of several creeping cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Cucurbita, esp C. pepo of North America and C. maxima of Europe

2. 1. the large round fruit of any of these plants, which has a thick orange rind, pulpy flesh, and numerous seeds

   2. ( as modifier )

      pumpkin pie

3. (often capital) a term of endearment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pumpkin

1640–50; alteration of pumpion ( -kin ), variant of pompon < Middle French, nasalized variant of popon melon, earlier pepon < Latin pepōn- (stem of pepō ) < Greek pépōn kind of melon

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

My family always took a long car ride and looked for pumpkins up in the country.

From Literature

Dessert revives malt bread as French toast alongside sea buckthorn and pumpkin held through autumn and sharpened into sorbet.

From Salon

To me, it looked as if you could have thrown a pumpkin straight down his throat and never scratched the peeling on one of his long teeth.

From Literature

Gran told me a story of turning mice into horses and a pumpkin into a golden coach.

From Literature

We fold pumpkin into pie and call it tradition.

From Salon

Related Words

• fruit
• squash

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.