baby broccoli

noun

: a green vegetable plant that is a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli and produces long, thin, tender stems and loose clusters of yellow florets

Baby broccoli has thinner stems than regular broccoli and long, feathery flowers that cook up nicely in this mixed-rice risotto.

—Martha Rose Shulman, New York Times, 4 Sept. 2012

Note: Baby broccoli is often sold under the trademark Broccolini.

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

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