bamboo

/ˌˈbæmˌbu/

/bæmˈbu/

Other forms: bamboos

Bamboo is a woody plant with a hollow stem that's in the grass family. When bamboo is harvested and processed, it can be used to make things like flooring, paper, and chopsticks.

If bamboo is prepared correctly, it can be eaten — you'll find bamboo shoots in many Chinese dishes, for example. Without the right preparation, though, bamboo is toxic to humans. Many products are made from bamboo in part because it's one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. Bamboo is originally from the Dutch bamboe, which in turn comes from the Portuguese bambu. The root is thought to be the Malay word samambu.

Definitions of bamboo

1. noun

   woody tropical grass having hollow woody stems; mature canes used for construction and furniture
   types:

   Bambusa vulgaris, common bamboo

   extremely vigorous bamboo having thin-walled culms striped green and yellow; so widely cultivated that native area is uncertain

   Arundinaria gigantea, cane reed, giant cane

   tall grass of southern United States growing in thickets

   Arundinaria tecta, small cane, switch cane

   small cane of watery or moist areas in southern United States

   Dendrocalamus giganteus, giant bamboo, kyo-chiku

   immense tropical southeast Asian bamboo with tough hollow culms that resemble tree trunks

   Phyllostachys aurea, fishpole bamboo, gosan-chiku, hotei-chiku

   small bamboo of southeastern China having slender culms flexuous when young

   Phyllostachys nigra, black bamboo, kuri-chiku

   small bamboo having thin green culms turning shining black

   Phyllostachys bambusoides, giant timber bamboo, ku-chiku, madake

   large bamboo having thick-walled culms; native of China and perhaps Japan; widely grown elsewhere

   type of:

   graminaceous plant, gramineous plant

   cosmopolitan herbaceous or woody plants with hollow jointed stems and long narrow leaves
2. noun

   the hard woody stems of bamboo plants; used in construction and crafts and fishing poles
   type of:

   wood

   the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees