melon

mel·on

noun, often attributive \ˈme-lən\

Definition of MELON

1

: any of various typically sweet gourds (as a muskmelon or watermelon) usually eaten raw as fruits

2

: something rounded like a melon: as

a : the rounded organ in the front of the head of some cetaceans

b plural slang : large breasts

3

a : a surplus of profits available for distribution to stockholders

b : a financial windfall

Origin of MELON

Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin melon-, melo, short for Latin melopepon-, melopepo, from Greek mēlopepōn, from mēlon apple + pepōn, an edible gourd — more at pumpkin

First Known Use: 14th century

Rhymes with MELON

felon

melon

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of the seven groups of Cucumis melo, a trailing vine grown for its edible, sweet, musky-scented fruit. Members of the horticulturally diverse gourd family, melons are frost-tender annuals native to central Asia but widely grown in many cultivated varieties in warm regions worldwide. They have soft, hairy, trailing stems, large round to lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and large flat seeds. The fruits of the numerous cultivated varieties differ greatly in size, shape, surface texture, flesh colour, flavour, and weight. Examples include cantaloupe, honeydew, and casaba. Plants resembling true melons include the watermelon, the Chinese watermelon, the melon tree (see papaya), and the melon shrub, or pear melon (Solanum muricatum).