I. vege ‧ ta ‧ ble 1 S3 W3 /ˈvedʒtəb ə l/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Medieval Latin ; Origin: vegetabilis 'growing' , from vegetare 'to grow' , from Latin vegere 'to cause to act, excite' ]
1 . a plant that is eaten raw or cooked, such as a ↑ cabbage , a ↑ carrot , or ↑ pea s :
fresh fruit and vegetables
organic methods of growing vegetables
vegetable soup
a neat vegetable garden
Vitamin A is found in liver and green vegetables.
salad vegetables (=vegetables such as ↑ lettuce or ↑ tomato es eaten raw)
GRAMMAR
Vegetable is a countable noun, not an uncountable noun:
▪
They grew their own vegetables (NOT their own vegetable).
2 . not polite an offensive word for someone who is alive but who cannot talk or move because their brain is damaged
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + vegetable
▪ fresh
Fresh vegetables taste best immediately after they've been picked.
▪ raw
Some vegetables are better eaten raw.
▪ organic (=grown without using chemicals)
Most supermarkets sell organic fruit and vegetables.
▪ tinned/canned
Do canned vegetables have as many vitamins as fresh ones?
▪ frozen
packets of frozen vegetables
▪ green vegetables
Eat plenty of green vegetables.
▪ leafy vegetables
Leafy vegetables contain iron, which is good for the blood.
▪ root vegetables (=vegetables whose roots you eat, such as carrots)
Excellent soups can be made from root vegetables.
▪ a salad vegetable (=a vegetable that is eaten raw in a salad)
You can buy ready-prepared salad vegetables.
▪ baby vegetables (=vegetables that have not grown to their full size)
Baby vegetables, especially carrots and corn, appeal to youngsters.
■ vegetable + NOUN
▪ vegetable soup
I think I'll have the vegetable soup.
▪ vegetable stock (=a liquid in which vegetables have been cooked)
Gently cook the mushrooms and onions in the vegetable stock.
▪ vegetable oil
She uses vegetable oil instead of lard.
▪ a vegetable garden/patch/plot
Anna was digging in the vegetable garden.
■ verbs
▪ grow vegetables
If we had a garden, we could grow our own vegetables.
II. vegetable 2 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]
formal relating to plants in general, rather than animals or things that are not living ⇨ mineral :
decomposing vegetable matter