chufa

American

[choo-fuh] / ˈtʃu fə /

noun

an African plant, Cyperus esculentus sativus, of the sedge family, having a tuberous, edible root.

chufa British

/ ˈtʃuːfə /

noun

a sedge, Cyperus esculentus, of warm regions of the Old World, with nutlike edible tubers

"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 chufa

1850–55, < Spanish

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.

Tiger nuts, aka chufa nuts, aka earth almonds, are stripy little tubers originally cultivated in ancient Egypt.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2022

He'd known about chufa for years, but when the turkey population was at its peak no one bothered planting any food sources.

From Time Magazine Archive

The place now has plots of ladino clover, chufa, bahia grass, small grains and even corn.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moore now sees those chufa plots hit hard in the fall, and be believes they help keep turkeys from roaming as far as they otherwise might.

From Time Magazine Archive

Egyptians then domesticated the sycamore fig and a local vegetable called chufa.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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