: a pungent yellow condiment consisting of the pulverized seeds of various mustard plants (such as Sinapis alba, Brassica juncea, and B. nigra) either dry or made into a paste or sauce (as by mixing with water or vinegar) and sometimes adulterated with other substances (such as turmeric) or mixed with spices
b
: the seed of a mustard plant used as a spice and in medicine as a stimulant and diuretic, an emetic, or a counterirritant
: any of several herbs (genera Brassica and Sinapis of the family Brassicaceae synonym Cruciferae, the mustard family) with lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and linear beaked pods
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Maple and mustard were made for each other.—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 13 Oct. 2025 Tony’s Stromboli, the signature dish, is still stuffed with ham, sausage, salami, American cheese, mozzarella and mustard, served with marinara sauce to top.—Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2025 The mustard yellow shade is particularly popular and very in theme with the season’s palette.—Nusrat Sultana, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Oct. 2025 The 8-inch sub is $9.24, according to its website, and has American cheese, bologna, ham, salami, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, banana peppers and pickles served with a mustard sauce.—Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 2 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mustard
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French mustarde, from must must, from Latin mustum
: a pungent yellow condiment consisting of the pulverized seeds of the black mustard or sometimes the white mustard either dry or made into a paste and serving as a stimulant and diuretic or in large doses as an emetic and as a counterirritant when applied to the skin as a poultice
2
: any of several herbs (genus Brassica of the family Cruciferae, the mustard family) with lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and linear beaked pods see black mustardsense 1, white mustard
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