pumpkin

pumpkin — noun

1. a large round fruit with a hard orange or yellow outer skin, soft orange flesh i

1.nounA1
Definition

a large round fruit with a hard orange or yellow outer skin, soft orange flesh inside, and flat white seeds, eaten cooked as a food or used for decoration during Halloween

Example

Mira cut the pumpkin in half and scooped out the seeds before roasting it.

collocation: scoop out the seeds

Every Halloween, the local children carve faces into large orange pumpkins and place candles inside.

collocation: carve a pumpkin / Halloween tradition

Common collocations
  • carve a pumpkin
  • pumpkin pie
  • pumpkin soup
  • pumpkin seeds
  • pumpkin lantern
  • pumpkin spice
  • roast a pumpkin
Synonyms
  • squash

    a broader category that includes pumpkins, courgettes, and butternut squash; less specific

  • gourd

    any plant from the Cucurbitaceae family, including decorative varieties not typically eaten

Grammar Patterns

pumpkin + noun (pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup)

Usage Note

In everyday use, 'pumpkin' refers to the fruit itself. For dishes, it commonly appears as a modifier before a noun (pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread).

Common Mistakes

I bought a pumpkin soup.
I bought pumpkin soup.
When pumpkin is used as a modifier, no article is needed between it and the dish name.
Pumpkin is very sweet today.
This pumpkin is very sweet today.
Pumpkin is a countable noun, so it needs a determiner when referring to a single fruit.

2. a creeping plant with long stems, large rough leaves, and yellow flowers, belong

2.nounB1
Definition

a creeping plant with long stems, large rough leaves, and yellow flowers, belonging to the gourd family, which produces pumpkins as its fruit

Example

In late spring, Lan planted pumpkin seeds at the edge of the vegetable patch.

planting and growing the vine

The pumpkin vine spread quickly across the ground and climbed up the old fence.

collocation: pumpkin vine

Common collocations
  • pumpkin vine
  • pumpkin plant
  • grow pumpkins
  • plant pumpkin seeds
  • pumpkin patch
Synonyms
  • vine

    a general term for any climbing or trailing plant; less specific than pumpkin

  • gourd

    any plant from the Cucurbitaceae family that produces hard-skinned fruits

Usage Note

In everyday conversation, 'pumpkin' almost always refers to the fruit (sense 1). The plant sense is mainly used in gardening, farming, or botanical contexts where the vine itself is the focus.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Pumpkin, squash, gourd, and marrow all belong to the same botanical family, but each word refers to a different type. 'Pumpkin' describes a large, round orange fruit commonly used for Halloween decorations and in pies or soup. 'Squash' is a broader term that covers pumpkins as well as courgettes, butternut squash, and acorn squash. 'Gourd' is even wider and includes hard-shelled ornamental varieties that are not usually eaten. 'Marrow' (chiefly British English) is a large, green-skinned squash with mild flesh. For example: 'She made soup from the pumpkin in her garden.' vs 'He roasted butternut squash with garlic.' vs 'The shelf was decorated with small yellow gourds.'

squash ↗gourdmarrow ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pumpkin patch
  • pumpkin carving
  • pumpkin harvest

Phrases

  • grow pumpkins
  • carve a pumpkin
  • roast a pumpkin

Prepositions

  • with pumpkin
  • of pumpkin

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'pumpkin' entered English through French 'pompion', which came from Latin 'peponem', borrowed from Greek 'pepon' (πέπων), meaning 'large melon'. The Greek root 'peptein' (πέπτειν) means 'to cook', because pumpkins were usually cooked before being eaten. The spelling shifted from 'pompion' to 'pumpkin' during the 1600s.