jerusalem cucumber

1 definition found

jerusalem cucumber - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Cucumber \Cu"cum*ber\ (k?`k?m-b?r, formerly kou"k?m-b?r), n.
     [OE. cucumer, cocumber, cucumber, fr. L. cucmis,
     gen.cucumeris; cf. OF. cocombre,F. concombre.] (Bot.)
     A creeping plant, and its fruit, of several species of the
     genus Cucumis, esp. Cucumis sativus, the unripe fruit of
     which is eaten either fresh or picked. Also, similar plants
     or fruits of several other genera. See below.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Bitter cucumber (Bot.), the Citrullus Colocynthis syn.
        Cucumis Colocynthis. See Colocynth.
  
     Cucumber beetle. (Zool.)
     (a) A small, black flea-beetle (Crepidodera cucumeris),
         which destroys the leaves of cucumber, squash, and melon
         vines.
     (b) The squash beetle.
  
     Cucumber tree.
     (a) A large ornamental or shade tree of the genus Magnolia
         (Magnolia acuminata), so called from a slight
         resemblance of its young fruit to a small cucumber.
     (b) An East Indian plant (Averrhoa Bilimbi) which produces
         the fruit known as bilimbi.
  
     Jamaica cucumber, Jerusalem cucumber, the prickly-fruited
        gherkin (Cucumis Anguria).
  
     Snake cucumber, a species (Cucumis flexuosus) remarkable
        for its long, curiously-shaped fruit.
  
     Squirting cucumber, a plant (Ecbalium Elaterium) whose
        small oval fruit separates from the footstalk when ripe
        and expels its seeds and juice with considerable force
        through the opening thus made. See Elaterium.
  
     Star cucumber, a climbing weed (Sicyos angulatus) with
        prickly fruit.
        [1913 Webster]