plural gourds
1
: any of a family (Cucurbitaceae, the gourd family) of chiefly herbaceous tendril-bearing vines including the cucumber, melon, squash, and pumpkin
2
: the fruit of a gourd : pepo
especially
: any of various hard-rinded inedible fruits of plants of two genera (Lagenaria and Cucurbita) often used for ornament or for vessels and utensils
Walking through the various barrios, you might see people sharing sips from a little gourd with a straw in it. —
Bruce Sanderson
Bruce Sanderson … a basketball-size gourd draped with a veil of wooden beads—to incite individual bursts of improvisation from the orchestra's players. —The New Yorker
The New Yorker see also out of one's gourd
Examples of gourd in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Pumpkin patches also have tons of activities aside from just grabbing a gourd.
—Kylie Petty, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Oct. 2025
The decorations range in complexity from pumpkins that are beautifully painted or adorned with ribbons to elaborate dioramas where the gourd itself is almost incidental.
—Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025
And with them came their love of prank playing, which had once included scaring people by tying a string to a cabbage and pulling it through a field at night, or carving a gourd with a glowing face.
—Chris Kenning, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
The oxidation of your pumpkin’s insides can mean that mold and bacteria begin to form on that inner flesh that is no longer protected after the thick skin of the gourd is compromised through carving.
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gourd
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Kylie Petty, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Oct. 2025
The decorations range in complexity from pumpkins that are beautifully painted or adorned with ribbons to elaborate dioramas where the gourd itself is almost incidental.
—Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025
And with them came their love of prank playing, which had once included scaring people by tying a string to a cabbage and pulling it through a field at night, or carving a gourd with a glowing face.
—Chris Kenning, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
The oxidation of your pumpkin’s insides can mean that mold and bacteria begin to form on that inner flesh that is no longer protected after the thick skin of the gourd is compromised through carving.
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gourd
Cite this Entry
“Gourd.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gourd. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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