turnip

CEFRB1

/ˈtɜː.nɪp/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A round root vegetable with white flesh and purple skin.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The yellow root of a related plant, the swede or Brassica napus.

Examples

  • The gardener won first prize for the largest turnip grown in the spring harvest.

  • You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The white root of a yellow-flowered plant, Brassica rapa, grown as a vegetable and as fodder for cattle.

  2. The white root of Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also known as a daikon.

  3. A fool or simpleton.

More examples

In context

  • Tom fell off the turnip truck.

  • In general, beets, carrots, and turnips are all of aphrodisiac value in erotic dietary.

  • The turnip is one of the lordliest vegetables in the world; its broth is practically a soup in itself.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She peeled the purple and white blank before adding it to the soup.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English turnepe, probably from turn + Middle English nepe, from Old English nǣp, from Latin nāpus. The component turn may be due to the round shape of the plant as though turned on a lathe, or because it must be turned and twisted to be harvested. Cognate to neep. See also parsnip.