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Mustard

 - 6 dictionary results

mus⋅tard

[muhs-terd]
–noun
1. a pungent powder or paste prepared from the seed of the mustard plant, used as a food seasoning or condiment, and medicinally in plasters, poultices, etc.
2. any of various acrid or pungent plants, esp. of the genus Brassica, as B. juncea (leaf mustard), the leaves of which are used for food and B. nigra (black mustard), the chief source of commercial mustard, and Sinapis alba (white mustard). Compare mustard family.
3. nitrogen mustard.
4. cut the mustard, Slang. to reach or surpass the desired standard of performance: a pitcher who cuts the mustard with his fastball.

Origin:
1300–50; ME < OF moustarde a relish orig. made of mustard seed and must, equiv. to moust must 2 + -arde -ard
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mus·tard   (mŭs'tərd)   
n.  
    1. Any of various Eurasian plants of the genus Brassica, especially B. nigra and B. juncea, which are cultivated for their pungent seeds and edible leaves.

    2. A condiment made from the powdered seeds of certain of these plants.

  1. A member of the mustard family.

  2. A dark yellow to light olive brown.


[Middle English, from Old French mustarde, from Latin mustum, must, unfermented wine; see must3.]
mus'tard·y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mustard 
1190, from O.Fr. moustarde, from moust "must," from L. mustum "new wine" (see must (n.1)); so called because it was originally prepared by adding must to the ground seeds of the plant to make a paste. As a color name, it is attested from 1848. Mustard gas, World War I poison (first used by the Germans at Ypres, 1917), so called for its color and smell and burning effect on eyes and lungs; chemical name is dichlordiethyl sulfide, it contains no mustard, and is an atomized liquid, not a gas. To cut the mustard (1907, usually in negative) is probably from slang mustard "genuine article, best thing" (1903) on notion of "that which enhances flavor."
"I'm not headlined in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing just the same." [O.Henry, "Cabbages and Kings," 1904]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: mus·tard
Pronunciation: 'm&s-t&rd
Function: noun
1 : a pungent yellow condiment consisting of the pulverized seeds of theblack mustard or sometimes the white mustard either dry or made into a paste and serving as a stimulant and diuretic or in large doses as an emetic and as a counterirritant when applied to the skin asa poultice
2 : any of several herbs (genus Brassica of the family Cruciferae, the mustard family) with lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and linear beaked pods —see BLACK MUSTARD 1 WHITE MUSTARD
3 a: MUSTARD GAS b : NITROGENMUSTARD
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Bible Dictionary

Mustard

a plant of the genus sinapis, a pod-bearing, shrub-like plant, growing wild, and also cultivated in gardens. The little round seeds were an emblem of any small insignificant object. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament; and in each of the three instances of its occurrence in the New Testament (Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:31, 32; Luke 13:18, 19) it is spoken of only with reference to the smallness of its seed. The common mustard of Palestine is the Sinapis nigra. This garden herb sometimes grows to a considerable height, so as to be spoken of as "a tree" as compared with garden herbs.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

mustard

see cut the mustard.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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