fiddlehead

[ fid-l-hed ]

noun

1. Nautical. a billethead having a form similar to the volute carved at the upper end of a violin.
2. the young, coiled frond of various species of ferns, eaten as a vegetable.

fiddlehead

/ ˈfɪdəlˌhɛd /

noun

1. nautical an ornamental carving, in the shape of the scroll at the head end of a fiddle, fitted to the top of the stem or cutwater
2. the edible coiled tip of a young fern frond

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiddlehead¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; fiddle + head

Example Sentences

So it’s like: Push yourself a little bit, to sea urchin, to fiddleheads.

From Seattle Times

They are also great sauteed in a pan with fiddleheads, the unopened foliage of the ostrich fern, whose season is approaching.

From Seattle Times

Ms. Mori’s creations look like chimerical species — hybrids of barnacles and cumulus clouds, a baobab and a weeping willow, a waterlily and fiddlehead ferns, sea urchin spines and a swarm of starlings.

From New York Times

Gradually, native ingredients like kawakawa or fiddlehead ferns, as well as traditional cooking techniques, have inspired non-Maori New Zealand chefs like Al Brown or Ben Bayly.

From New York Times

In her own practice, rounded clay bodies find slightly erotic biomorphic contours, with arms curled like horns or fiddlehead ferns, and geometric incised openings carved from smoothed exteriors.

From New York Times