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Webster 1913 Edition


Cashew

Ca-shew′

(kȧ-shoō′)
,
Noun.
[F.
acajou
, for
cajou
, prob. from Malay
kāyu
tree; cf. Pg.
acaju
, cf.
Acajou
.]
1.
(Bot.)
A tree (
Anacardium occidentale
) of the same family which the sumac. It is native in tropical America, but is now naturalized in all tropical countries. Its fruit, a kidney-shaped nut, grows at the extremity of an edible, pear-shaped hypocarp, about three inches long.
Cashew nut
,
the large, kidney-shaped fruit of the cashew, which is edible after the caustic oil has been expelled from the shell by roasting the nut.

Definition 2024


cashew

cashew

English

A cashew (tree)
Cashews (nuts)

Noun

cashew (plural cashews)

  1. A tree, Anacardium occidentale, native to northeastern Brazil, now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.
    • 2002, P. K. Ray, Breeding Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, page 221:
      Soft-wood grafting and veneer grafting are successful in cashew.
    • 2005, Roger Martin, Tree-Kangaroos of Australia and New Guinea, page 106:
      Also known as the Native Cashew, it is a member of the Anacardiaceae, the same plant family to which the Cashew and Mango trees belong.
    • 2007, Alice Kurian, K. V. Peter (series editor), Commercial Crops Technology (Horticulture Science; 8), page 63:
      Cashew (Anacardium occidental L.) is an export-oriented crop grown for its nuts, a true drupe.
  2. A cashew nut.
    • 1996, Thomas Payne, “17: Nuts”, in Laszlo Somogyi, Diane M. Barrett, Y. H. Hui, editors, Processing Fruits, page 529:
      In some countries, cashews continue to be cracked manually although cracking machinery and other shelling mechanisms have been introduced.
    • 2004, Frederic Rosengarten, Jr., The Book of Edible Nuts, page 46:
      The bland cashew is a fitting substitute for higher priced almonds to extend the nut texture. In baking, however, almonds are more suitable for cake decoration than cashews.
    • 2010, Dick Logue, 500 Low Glycemic Index Recipes, page 413:
      This is a spicy variation of Kung Pao Chicken using cashews rather than the more common peanuts.

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