calabash

/ˌkæləˈbæʃ/

/ˈkæləbæʃ/

Other forms: calabashes

A calabash is either an evergreen tree that produces round gourds or one of the gourds themselves.

Nouns that travel through many languages on their way to English often stand for useful objects, and this one's no exception: it's a gourd-producing tree that is practical indeed. The tree and the gourd are both called calabashes, and people have used calabashes for musical instruments, pitchers, and many kinds of containers. The calabash must be dried before it can be used as anything. This word is originally Persian but traveled through French and Spanish on its way to English.

Definitions of calabash

1. noun

   Old World climbing plant with hard-shelled bottle-shaped gourds as fruits
   synonyms: Lagenaria siceraria, bottle gourd

   type of:

   gourd, gourd vine

   any vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that bears fruits with hard rinds
2. noun

   tropical American evergreen that produces large round gourds
   synonyms: Crescentia cujete, calabash tree

   type of:

   tree

   a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
3. noun

   round gourd of the calabash tree
   type of:

   gourd

   any of numerous inedible fruits with hard rinds
4. noun

   bottle made from the dried shell of a bottle gourd
   synonyms: gourd

   type of:

   bottle

   a glass or plastic vessel used for storing drinks or other liquids; typically cylindrical without handles and with a narrow neck that can be plugged or capped
5. noun

   a pipe for smoking; has a curved stem and a large bowl made from a calabash gourd
   synonyms: calabash pipe

   type of:

   pipe, tobacco pipe

   a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco