cucumber

cucumber, fruit of Cucumis sativus, a species of gourd whose many varieties are descended from a plant native to Asia and Africa. Cucumber is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Violales, family Curcurbitaceae.

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cucumber

Creeping plant (Cucumis sativus), of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), or its oblong fruit, for which it is widely cultivated. It probably originated in northern India. The plant is a tender annual with a rough, succulent, trailing stem and hairy leaves with pointed lobes; the stem bears branched tendrils by which the plant can suspend itself. The food value of the fruit is low, but its delicate flavour makes it a popular vegetable for salads and relishes.

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cucumber

1. a creeping cucurbitaceous plant, Cucumis sativus, cultivated in many forms for its edible fruit

2. the cylindrical fruit of this plant, which has hard thin green rind and white crisp flesh

3. any of various similar or related plants or their fruits

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cucumber [′kyü·kəm·bər]

(botany)

Cucumis sativus.An annual cucurbit, in the family Cucurbitaceae grown for its edible, immature fleshy fruit.