chestnut: Meaning and Definition of

chest•nut

Pronunciation: (ches'nut", -nut), [key]
— n.
  1. any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentatawhich has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, C. sativaC. mollissimaand C. crenata
  2. the edible nut of such a tree.
  3. the wood of any of these trees.
  4. any fruit or tree resembling the chestnut, as the horse chestnut.
  5. reddish brown.
  6. an old or stale joke, anecdote, etc.
  7. the callosity on the inner side of the leg of a horse. See diag. under
  8. a reddish-brown horse having the mane and tail of the same color. Cf. bay (def. 2).
  9. Also calleda horse of a solid, dark-brown color.
  10. to rescue someone from a difficulty.
—adj.
  1. reddish-brown.
  2. (of food) containing or made with chestnuts: turkey with chestnut stuffing.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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