beet

noun

ˈbēt 

: a biennial garden plant (Beta vulgaris) of the amaranth family that includes several cultivars (such as Swiss chard and sugar beet) and that has thick edible leaves with long petioles and often swollen purplish-red roots

also : its root used especially as a vegetable, as a source of sugar, or for forage

Examples of beet in a Sentence

I've planted carrots, parsnips, and beets in the garden.

Recent Examples on the Web

Aphids can also transmit viruses from one plant to another, which can be particularly damaging to crops like squash, cucumber, pumpkin, melon, bean, potato, lettuce, beet, chard and bok choy. — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 7 July 2026

Some of you enjoy turning them into completely new dishes, stuffing them into ancho peppers or making Polish beet soup just to use up your fridge's odds and ends. — Malaka Gharib, NPR, 6 July 2026

In addition to prebiotics, it’s packed with squalene, olive fruit and camelina seed oil, and a variety of antioxidants, including turmeric, watermelon, apple, and beet extracts. — Laura Lu, Parents, 1 July 2026

And due to the non-competing growth habit of their roots, beets fit perfectly between the rows of garlic. — Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 30 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bete, from Old English bēte, from Latin beta

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing beet

• beet armyworm
• beet leafhopper
• beet red
• red as a beet
• sugar beet

Rhymes for beet

• beat
• bleat
• cheat
• cleat
• creat
• deet
• eat
• feat
• feet
• fleet
• greet
• heat

Kids Definition

beet

noun

ˈbēt 

: a garden plant with thick long-stalked edible leaves and usually an enlarged purplish red root used as a vegetable, as a source of sugar, or as food for livestock

also : this root