Meaning & use
vegetable
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Meanings
nouncountable
A plant or part of a plant eaten as food, usually in a savory dish rather than as a fruit or dessert.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a vegetable or vegetables. Use the plural for more than one.
Patterns
- eat vegetables
- grow vegetables
- a vegetable dish
Carrots and peas are my favorite vegetables.
She grows vegetables in her garden every summer.
The soup contains several kinds of vegetables.
nouncountableoffensivemedical
A person who is alive but unable to move or think because of severe brain damage.
Grammar: Often considered offensive when used about a person; use only in medical or formal contexts.
Patterns
- be a vegetable
- become a vegetable
After the accident, he was described as a vegetable.
The patient remained a vegetable for years.
Word forms
| plural | vegetables |
|---|
Common combinations
- fresh vegetables
- I bought fresh vegetables at the market.
- green vegetables
- Green vegetables like broccoli are good for you.
- vegetable oil
- Use vegetable oil for frying.
- root vegetable
- Potatoes and carrots are root vegetables.
Synonyms and how they differ
- produce
- Produce is a general term for fruits and vegetables, not just vegetables.
- greens
- Greens usually refers specifically to leafy green vegetables.
Word family
- vegetarian noun
- A person who does not eat meat.
- vegetation noun
- Plants in general, especially in a particular area.
Commonly confused: vegetable or fruit?
vegetable vs fruit
In cooking, fruits are usually sweet and eaten as a snack or dessert, while vegetables are savory. Botanically, tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits but are treated as vegetables.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'vegetable' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Vegetables are countable, so the plural 'vegetables' is correct here. 'Vegetable' without an article or plural is wrong in options 2 and 3, and vegetables are not typically dessert (option 1).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vegetable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.