noun
turnip
TUR-nihp
noun
1
A round white or pale root vegetable, related to the cabbage family, cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
"She diced the turnip into the stew."
"Turnips grow well in cool weather."
2
Informal: something (or someone) considered dull or unintelligent.
"Don't be such a turnip, work it out."
How to Use Turnip
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA pale, round root vegetable often boiled, mashed, or added to stews.
Common pairings
mashed turnip
turnip field
swede and turnip
Word Forms
turniped past tense, turnipped past tense, turnips singular
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Etymology
Probably from "turn" (perhaps because the round root looks as if it had been shaped on a lathe) combined with an old English word for the plant, related to "neep" and "parsnip".