noun

gourd

GORD/ɡʊrd/

A plant bearing a rounded fruit with a hard shell.

The gourd climbs the trellis with its fruits hanging from the vine.

A living gourd vine climbs a trellis, bearing broad leaves and hanging bottle-shaped fruits.

Etymology

Cucurbita already named the gourd. The container use rests on a practical property of the fruit: its shell could be dried and hollowed into a scoop or dipper.

In context

Unique gardening0:07

cut the gourd lengthwise. You can use any kind of knife or sharp tool for this purpose. Now, scoop out the dry seed mass from inside the gourd.

Here’s a simple and effective guide to how to collect bottle gourd (lauki) seeds

More examples

We grow gourds for their decorative, hard-shelled fruits.
The gourd needs plenty of room to spread its vines.
She plants gourds along the fence each spring.

Forms

gourd · gourds

Similar words

calabash: Often names the bottle gourd, whose shells become containers.
squash: Usually grown for edible flesh rather than a hard shell.