garlic

[ gahr-lik ]

noun
  1. a hardy plant, Allium sativum, of the amaryllis family, whose strongly pungent bulb is used in cooking and medicine.

  2. any of various plants of the genus Allium related to the familiar culinary garlic A. sativum.

  1. the bulb of Allium sativum, consisting of smaller bulbs, or cloves, used in cooking, sometimes in the form of a powder, a paste, or minced pieces.

  2. the flavor or smell of this bulb.

adjective
  1. cooked, flavored, or seasoned with garlic, the pungent bulb of the Allium sativum plant: garlic bread;garlic salt.

  2. of or relating to garlic.

Origin of garlic

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English garlec,Old English gārlēac (gar “spear”, cognate with German Ger, + lēac leek)

Other words from garlic

  • garlicked, gar·lick·y, adjective

Words Nearby garlic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use garlic in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for garlic

garlic

/ (ˈɡɑːlɪk) /


noun
  1. a hardy widely cultivated Asian alliaceous plant, Allium sativum, having a stem bearing whitish flowers and bulbils

    • the bulb of this plant, made up of small segments (cloves) that have a strong odour and pungent taste and are used in cooking

    • (as modifier): a garlic taste

  1. any of various other plants of the genus Allium

Origin of garlic

1
Old English gārlēac, from gār spear + lēac leek

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