carob

American  

[kar-uhb] / ˈkær əb /

noun

1. a Mediterranean tree, Ceratonia siliqua, of the legume family, bearing long, leathery pods containing hard seeds and sweet, edible pulp.

2. Also called St. John's-bread, algarroba, locust bean.  the pod of this tree, the source of various foodstuffs, including a substitute for chocolate, as well as substances having several industrial uses, and sometimes used as food for animals.

3. a powder made from the ground pods and seeds of this tree and used in cooking, especially as a substitute for chocolate.

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carob British  

/ ˈkærəb /

noun

1. Also called: algarroba.  an evergreen leguminous Mediterranean tree, Ceratonia siliqua, with compound leaves and edible pods

2. Also called: algarroba.   Saint John's bread.  the long blackish sugary pod of this tree, used as a substitute for chocolate and for animal fodder

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Etymology

Origin of carob

1540–50; < Middle French carobe < Medieval Latin carrūbium < Arabic kharrūb bean-pods, carobs

Example Sentences

The company opened its production facility in March, where staff process not cacao beans but carob husks.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2025

But in Nukoko's case the raw material of choice is not carob or sunflower seeds but fava beans.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2025

Eventually, he settled on the eight most frequently mentioned: desert dates, Yemeni Sidr honey, sycamore figs, Israeli golden raisins, prickly juniper berries, carob fruit, black cumin and frankincense.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024

As a child of the 1970s, I remember the sadness of discovering that a home-baked chocolate chip cookie was in fact a carob chip cookie.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2024

I envisioned her skin the same carob color as my father’s, her eyes as black and her lips as full as his.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago