melons

mel·on

[mel-uhn]
noun
1.
the fruit of any of various plants of the gourd family, as the muskmelon or watermelon.
2.
medium crimson or deep pink.
3.
the visible upper portion of the head of a surfacing whale or dolphin, including the beak, eyes, and blowhole.
4.
Informal.
a.
a large extra dividend, often in the form of stock, to be distributed to stockholders: Profits zoomed so in the last quarter that the corporation cut a nice melon.
b.
any windfall of money to be divided among specified participants.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin mēlōn- (stem of mēlō), short for mēlopepō < Greek mēlopépōn apple-shaped melon, equivalent to mêlo(n) apple + pépōn pepo

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Melons is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
melon (ˈmɛlən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  muskmelon See watermelon any of several varieties of two cucurbitaceous vines, cultivated for their edible fruit
2.  the fruit of any of these plants, which has a hard rind and juicy flesh
3.  slang (US), (Canadian) cut a melon to declare an abnormally high dividend to shareholders
 
[C14: via Old French from Late Latin mēlo, shortened form of mēlopepō, from Greek mēlopepōn, from mēlon apple + pepōn gourd]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

melon
late 14c., from O.Fr. melon, from M.L. melonem (nom. melo), from L. melopeponem, a kind of pumpkin, from Gk. melopepon "gourd-apple" (name for several kinds of gourds bearing sweet fruit), from melon "apple" (from PIE source attested in Hittite mahla- "grapevine, branch") + pepon, a kind of gourd, noun
use of pepon "ripe." In Gk., melon "apple" was used in a generic way for all foreign fruits.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

melons definition


  1. n.
    large breasts. (Usually objectionable.) : Look at the melons on that babe!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Easton
Bible Dictionary

Melons definition


only in Num. 11:5, the translation of the Hebrew abattihim, the LXX. and Vulgate pepones, Arabic britikh. Of this plant there are various kinds, the Egyptian melon, the Cucumus chate, which has been called "the queen of cucumbers;" the water melon, the Cucurbita citrullus; and the common or flesh melon, the Cucumus melo. "A traveller in the East who recollects the intense gratitude which a gift of a slice of melon inspired while journeying over the hot and dry plains, will readily comprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of Egypt" (Kitto).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Matching Quote
"We had got a loaf of home-made bread, and musk and water melons for dessert. For this farmer, a clever and well-disposed man, cultivated a large patch of melons for the Hooksett and Concord markets. He hospitably entertained us the next day, exhibiting his hop-fields and kiln and melon-patch, warning us to step over the tight rope which surrounded the latter at a foot from the ground, while he pointed to a little bower at one corner, where it connected with the lock of a gun ranging with the line, and where, he informed us, he sometimes sat in pleasant nights to defend his premises against thieves. We stepped high over the line, and sympathized with our host's on the whole quite human, if not humane, interest in the success of his experiment. That night especially thieves were to be expected, from rumors in the atmosphere, and the priming was not wet. He was a Methodist man, who had his dwelling between the river and Uncannunuc Mountain; who there belonged, and stayed at home there, and by the encouragement of distant political organizations, and by his own tenacity, held a property in his melons, and continued to plant. We suggested melon seeds of new varieties and fruit of foreign flavor to be added to his stock. We had come away up here among the hills to learn the impartial and unbribable influence of Nature. Strawberries and melons grew as well in one man's garden as another's, and the sun lodges as kindly under his hillside,—when we had imagined that she inclined rather to some few earnest and faithful souls whom we know."
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