chestnut

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noun chest·nut \ 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 U.S. 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 (such as a musical piece or a saying) repeated to the point of staleness

See chestnut defined for English-language learners

See chestnut defined for kids

Examples of chestnut in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of chestnut from the Web

Try dishes with chanterelle and steinpilze mushrooms in late summer; roasted chestnuts, venison and pumpkin in the fall; and asparagus and ramps in spring.

— Smithsonian, "10 Unexpectedly Scenic Places in Austria," 14 Aug. 2017
Even street vendors selling roasted horse chestnuts accept WeChat pay in China.

— simon denyer, Washington Post, "Move over Jack Ma: Pony takes the lead in race to be China’s richest man," 8 Aug. 2017
While there were some interesting chestnuts in its brief—such as UC pointing out that the PTAB virtually ignored some important patents pending at the time [Broad] patent was filed—

— jon cohen, Science | AAAS, "Ding, ding, ding! CRISPR patent fight enters next round," 26 July 2017
Matel's client was Miller, a 26-year-old chestnut swirl quarter horse with a white star and white socks.

— susan thanepohn, Aurora Beacon-News, "Massage seen as way to relieve stress for horses," 21 July 2017
There’s an overly sweet dressing here, a temperature issue there, but that won’t keep us from ordering the chestnut pasta with quail ragù.

— garrett snyder, Los Angeles Magazine, "The Los Angeles Magazine Hot Restaurant List for July 2017," 18 July 2017
Animal Complaint, Brayton Trail: Two chestnut color horses were spotted walking in the street 7:21 p.m. July 8.

— joan rusek, cleveland.com, "Teens create sudsy slide on Tanglewood golf course," 13 July 2017
If you're set on dark hair, stay in the medium-to-dark chestnut range like Demi Moore, recommends Nikki Ferrara, a colorist at the Marie Robinson salon in New York City.

— stephanie saltzman, Allure, "8 Hair-Color Mistakes for Aging Hair — and How to Fix Them," 12 July 2017
Chestnuts and Pearls Gallery. 157 E Main St., New Albany.

— The Courier-Journal, "20+ must-see art exhibits, galleries July 9-15," 5 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chestnut.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of chestnut

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1519

See Words from the same year

chestnut Synonyms

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

chestnut

adjective

Definition of chestnut

1 :of the color chestnut

2 :of, relating to, or resembling a chestnut

See chestnut defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of chestnut

1555

Other Color Terms

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

CHESTNUT Defined for English Language Learners

chestnut

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noun

Definition of chestnut for English Language Learners

: a type of tree that produces large, sweet nuts that can be eaten
: the nut of a chestnut tree
: the wood of a chestnut tree

chestnut

adjective

Definition of chestnut for English Language Learners

: of a reddish-brown color

CHESTNUT Defined for Kids

chestnut

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noun chest·nut \ ˈches-ˌnət \

Definition of chestnut for Students

1 :a sweet edible nut that grows in burs on a tree related to the beech

2 :a reddish brown

Medical Dictionary

chestnut

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noun chest·nut \ ˈches-(ˌ)nət \

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