Meaning & use
radish
Last updated
UK/ˈræd.ɪʃ/
US/ˈræd.ɪʃ/
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
A small round root vegetable with red skin and crisp, peppery white flesh, usually eaten raw.
Grammar: Countable for single roots (five radishes), uncountable for the food (a little radish).
Patterns
- slice radishes
- a bunch of radishes
She sliced a radish thinly and added it to the salad.
We pulled the first radishes from the garden in May.
The sandwich had butter and radish on dark bread.
Word forms
| plural | radishes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bunch of radishes
- I bought a bunch of radishes at the market.
- sliced radish
- Top the tacos with sliced radish.
- pickled radish
- Pickled radish adds sharpness to the bowl.
- grow radishes
- Radishes are easy to grow from seed.
- red radish
- A red radish is crisp and peppery.
Synonyms and how they differ
- daikon
- Daikon is a long white variety of radish, milder and larger than the small red kind.
- turnip
- A turnip is a larger and milder root cooked more often than eaten raw, so it is not a true substitute.
- horseradish
- This is a different plant with a much stronger burn, used grated as a condiment.
Word family
- radishes noun
- plural form
- daikon noun
- a white radish used in Asian cooking
- radicchio noun
- a different, similarly named bitter leaf, not a radish
Commonly confused: radish or horseradish?
radish vs horseradish
Horseradish is a separate plant with a fiery root used as a sauce, not the small red salad vegetable.
Practice
Which describes a radish?
Choose one answer.
A radish is a peppery root vegetable often eaten raw. The other options describe a fruit, an herb and a sauce.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “radish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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