water chestnut

noun

1

: any of a genus (Trapa, especially T. natans of the family Lythraceae, the loosestrife family) of Old World aquatic herbs sometimes grown as ornamentals

also : its edible nutlike spiny fruit

2

: a whitish crunchy vegetable used especially in Chinese cooking that is the peeled and often sliced tuber of a sedge (Eleocharis dulcis synonym E. tuberosa) native to Asia but widely cultivated elsewhere

also : the tuber or the sedge itself

Examples of water chestnut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In Connecticut, diquat is among the most common herbicides used to rid lakes and ponds of invasive plants such as hydrilla, water chestnut and Eurasian watermilfoil. —John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2025

This crowd-pleasing casserole gets a special crunch from water chestnuts. —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 8 Aug. 2025

It's also been compared to pears or water chestnuts. —Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025

Creative additions like shredded cheese, diced water chestnuts, and sweet and sour chili sauce help set the recipe apart from the rest. —Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for water chestnut

• abut
• catgut
• chesnut
• donut
• doughnut
• groundnut
• haircut
• hindgut
• midgut
• precut
• rebut
• recut

Kids Definition

water chestnut

noun

: a whitish crunchy vegetable used especially in Chinese cooking that is the peeled underground stem of an Asian sedge

also : the sedge or its underground stem