chico

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountableregional

   A small, round tropical fruit with brown skin and soft, sweet flesh, grown widely in the Philippines.

   Grammar: Countable for single fruits (a chico); uncountable for the fruit as food.

   We ate chico for dessert after dinner.

   The market stall sold a bag of ripe chico.

   She peeled a chico and shared it with her sister.

2. 2nouncountableregionalbiology

   The tree that produces this fruit.

   Grammar: Refers to the evergreen tree rather than its fruit.

   A tall chico grew behind the old house.

   The chico bears fruit twice a year.

   Farmers planted a row of chico along the road.

Word forms

Common combinations

ripe chico

A ripe chico is soft and sweet.

chico tree

The chico tree gives shade and fruit.

chico shake

We ordered a chico shake at the cafe.

chico jam

Her grandmother makes chico jam every summer.

peel a chico

Peel a chico before eating the flesh.

Synonyms and how they differ

sapodilla

Sapodilla is the general English name for the fruit and is used outside the Philippines.

naseberry

Naseberry is the common name in the Caribbean and parts of the Commonwealth.

sapota

Sapota is the name used in India and some trade contexts.

Word family

sapodilla noun

the same fruit under its general English name

chicle noun

the gummy sap of the tree, once used for chewing gum

sapote noun

a related soft fruit

Commonly confused: chico or chicle? chico or chico?

Practice

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