chestnut

¹chest·nut

noun \ˈches(t)-(ˌ)nət\

Definition of CHESTNUT

1

a : any of a genus (Castanea) of trees or shrubs of the beech family; especially : an American tree (C. dentata) that was formerly a dominant or codominant member of many deciduous forests of the eastern United States but has now been largely eliminated by the chestnut blight and seldom grows beyond the shrub or sapling stage

b : the edible nut of a chestnut

c : the wood of a chestnut

2

: a grayish to reddish brown

3

: horse chestnut

4

: a chestnut-colored animal; specifically : a horse having a body color of any shade of pure or reddish brown with mane, tail, and points of the same or a lighter shade — compare ²bay 1, ¹sorrel 1

5

: a callosity on the inner side of the leg of the horse — see horse illustration

6

a : an old joke or story

b : something (as a musical piece or a saying) repeated to the point of staleness

Examples of CHESTNUT

1. <an op-ed piece that's offers nothing but warmed-over chestnuts for solving the city's financial woes>

Origin of CHESTNUT

Middle English chasteine, chesten chestnut tree, from Anglo-French chastein, chestain, from Latin castanea, from Greek kastanea

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to CHESTNUT

Synonyms

banality, bromide, commonplace, cliché (also cliche), groaner, homily, platitude, shibboleth, trope, truism

Related Words

conventional wisdom, party line, routine; inanity; generality, generalization, simplification; adage, proverb, saw, saying; old wives' tale, stereotype

Near Antonyms

profundity

Other Seed Plant Terms

aubergine, box, bramble, briar, composite, perpetual, pulse, trefoil

Rhymes with CHESTNUT

abut, all but, beechnut, blind gut, brush cut, buzz cut, catgut, clean-cut, clear-cut, cobnut, cockshut, crew cut, crosscut, doughnut, foregut, groundnut, haircut, jump cut, kick butt, locknut, Meerut, midgut, offcut, peanut, pignut, pine nut, putt-putt, rebut, recut, rotgut, rough cut, sackbut, shortcut, somewhat, tut-tut, uncut, walnut, wing nut, woodcut

²chestnut

adjective

Definition of CHESTNUT

1

: of the color chestnut

2

: of, relating to, or resembling a chestnut

First Known Use of CHESTNUT

1555

Other Color Terms

argentine, cerise, cerulean, cyan, ocher, perse, puce, taupe, vermilion

chest·nut

noun \ˈches-(ˌ)nət\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of CHESTNUT

1

a : a tree or shrub of the genus Castanea (C. dentata) that is found in eastern North America and the leaf of which was formerly used to prepare an infusion for the treatment of whooping cough b : the edible nut of a chestnut

2

: a callosity on the inner side of the leg of the horse

chestnut

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of four species of deciduous ornamental and timber trees of the genus Castanea, in the beech family. Native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, they bear burrlike fruits that contain two or three edible nuts. The usually tall trees have furrowed bark and lance-shaped leaves. The American chestnut (C. dentata), which once extended over a large area of eastern North America, has been almost eliminated by chestnut blight. The other three species are the European chestnut (C. sativa), the Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima), and the Japanese chestnut (C. crenata). The nuts of these three have local importance as food and are exported in large quantities, and varieties of all three are cultivated as ornamentals. The European chestnut produces useful timber as well; the American chestnut also was an important source of lumber and nuts before the arrival of the blight.