vegetable marrow

American  

noun

1. any of various summer squashes, as the cocozelle and zucchini.

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vegetable marrow British  

noun

1. a cucurbitaceous plant, Cucurbita pepo, probably native to America but widely cultivated for its oblong green striped fruit, which is eaten as a vegetable

2. Also called: marrow squash.  the fruit of this plant

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Etymology

Origin of vegetable marrow

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

EB White said of Punch – originally launched in 1841, and subtitled the London Charivari – that it was "as British as vegetable marrow", and that it constituted a legislature in its own right.

From The Guardian • Jun. 4, 2010

But alas! human longings are perversely obstinate; and to the man whose mouth is watering for a peach, it is of no use to offer the largest vegetable marrow.

From Scenes of Clerical Life by Eliot, George

Use.—The fruit is eaten while it is quite young and small; served in the manner of cucumbers, or like vegetable marrow.

From The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Containing Full Descriptions of Nearly Eleven Hundred Species and Varietes; With Directions for Propagation, Culture and Use. by Burr, Fearing

The yellow bell-flower is succeeded by a small, oblong fruit, which, when boiled, is very similar to the English vegetable marrow.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous

The vegetable marrow shown in the accompanying photograph was grown by my brother, Mr. David Ager, gardener to Mr. Milton Bode, of West Dean, near Reading, the well-known gold medallist for chrysanthemum culture.

From The Strand Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 161, May 1904 by Various