papaw

3 definitions found

papaw - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Papaw \Pa*paw"\, n. [Prob. from the native name in the West
     Indies; cf. Sp. papayo papaw, papaya the fruit of the papaw.]
     [Written also pawpaw.]
     1. (Bot.) Same as papaya, senses 1 and 2.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     2. (Bot.) A tree of the genus Asimina (Asimina triloba),
        growing in the western and southern parts of the United
        States, and producing a sweet edible fruit; also, the
        fruit itself. --Gray.
        [1913 Webster]

  papaya \pa*pa"ya\, n. [Prob. from the native name in the West
     Indies; cf. Sp. papayo papaw, papaya the fruit of the papaw.]
     1. (Bot.) A tree (Carica Papaya) of tropical America,
        belonging to the order Passiflore[ae]; called also
        papaw and pawpaw. It has a soft, spongy stem, eighteen
        or twenty feet high, crowned with a tuft of large,
        long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The milky juice of
        the plant is said to have the property of making meat
        tender.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     2. The fruit of the papaya tree; it is a dull orange-colored,
        melon-shaped fruit, which is eaten both raw and cooked or
        pickled. The fruit contains papain, a protease.
        [1913 Webster + PJC]

papaw - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  papaw
      n 1: small tree native to the eastern United States having
           oblong leaves and fleshy fruit [syn: pawpaw, papaw,
           papaw tree, Asimina triloba]
      2: fruit with yellow flesh; related to custard apples [syn:
         papaw, pawpaw]