calabash

noun

cal·​a·​bash ˈka-lə-ˌbash How to pronounce calabash (audio)
1
: a tropical American tree (Crescentia cujete) of the bignonia family
also : its large hard-shelled globose fruit
2
: gourd
especially : one whose hard shell is used for a utensil
3
: a utensil (such as a bottle or dipper) made from the shell of a calabash

Examples of calabash in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The precursor of the xylophone and marimba, a balafon is made by carefully cutting 21 wooden slats into different lengths, fixing them atop hallow calabashes, and striking them with mallets wound with the gum and sap of a rubber tree. Eliot Stein, Rolling Stone, 9 Dec. 2024 Spa therapies incorporate calabash gourds, Eastern modalities, and red hematite body masks à la the iconic Himba women. Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 17 July 2023 Inside a series of colorful huts, purveyors sell crafted items like bird feeders made from calabash pods. Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Jan. 2023 For instance, the Soccer City Stadium in Soweto, South Africa, resembles a calabash and is a perfect example of what can happen when art, culture, and soccer are successfully interwoven. Meron Demisse, Quartz, 27 Oct. 2022 The label features the calabash, a traditional clay drinking vessel. Melanie Van Zyl, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2022 My father’s favorite sound was the sound of the kora, a harp-like instrument with twenty-one strings held taut between a wooden neck and a calabash body. Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021 For instance, because traditional beer remains very much a rural cottage industry, these brewers tend to rely on hand tools, open flames, wooden vessels and calabash shells or clay jugs as communal cups to serve their customers. Tara Nurin, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2021 The spice mixture includes calabash nutmeg, negro pepper (also called uda seeds), and alligator pepper seeds. Saveur, 8 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

French & Spanish; French calebasse gourd, from Spanish calabaza

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of calabash was in 1596

Dictionary Entries Near calabash

Cite this Entry

“Calabash.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calabash. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

calabash

noun
cal·​a·​bash ˈkal-ə-ˌbash How to pronounce calabash (audio)
: gourd sense 2
especially : one whose hard shell is used for a utensil (as a bottle)

More from Merriam-Webster on calabash

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