fiddlehead

2 definitions found

fiddlehead - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  fiddlehead \fid"dle*head`\ n.
     1. any of several tall ferns of northern temperate regions
        having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling
        ostrich plumes.
  
     Syn: ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia   struthiopteris
          , Pteretis struthiopteris, Onoclea   struthiopteris
          .
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. New World fern (Osmunda cinnamonea) having woolly
        cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring
        later surrounded by green fronds, called also fiddlehead  fern
        ; the early uncurling fronds are edible, and
        sometimes considered as a vegetable delicacy.
  
     Syn: cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     3. (Naut.) an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the
        volute or scroll at the head of a violin. Sometimes it
        serves the function of a billhead.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

fiddlehead - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  fiddlehead
      n 1: tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful
           arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
           [syn: ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, fiddlehead,
           Matteuccia struthiopteris, Pteretis struthiopteris,
           Onoclea struthiopteris]
      2: New World fern having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing
         fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds; the
         early uncurling fronds are edible [syn: cinnamon fern,
         fiddlehead, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea]