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okra - 6 dictionary results

o⋅kra

  [oh-kruh]
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–noun
1. a shrub, Abelmoschus esculentus, of the mallow family, bearing beaked pods.
2. the pods, used in soups, stews, etc.
3. a dish made with the pods.
Also called gumbo.

Origin:
1670–80; said to be of West African origin, though precise source unknown; cf. Igbo ókùrù okra
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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gum·bo   (gŭm'bō)   
n.   pl. gum·bos
  1. Chiefly Southern U.S. See okra. See Regional Note at goober.
  2. A soup or stew thickened with okra pods. Also called okra.
  3. Chiefly Mississippi Valley & Western U.S. A fine silty soil, common in the southern and western United States, that forms an unusually sticky mud when wet.
  4. Gumbo A French patois spoken by some Black people and Creoles in Louisiana and the French West Indies.

[Louisiana French gombo, of Bantu origin; akin to Tshiluba ki-ngumbo, okra.]
o·kra   (ō'krə)   
n.  
    1. A tall tropical Asian annual plant (Abelmoschus esculentus) widely cultivated in warm regions for its edible, mucilaginous green pods.
    2. The edible pods of this plant, used in soups and as a vegetable. Also called regionally gumbo.
  2. See gumbo.

[Of West African origin; akin to Akan (Twi) nkruma.]
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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Okra

O"kra\, n. The pods of the plant okra, used as a vegetable; also, a dish prepared with them; gumbo.

Okra

O"kra\, n. (Bot.) An annual plant (Abelmoschus, or Hibiscus, esculentus), whose green pods, abounding in nutritious mucilage, are much used for soups, stews, or pickles; gumbo. [Written also ocra and ochra.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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okra 
1679, from a West African language (cf. Akan nkruma "okra").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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