chestnut Definition

any of a genus (Castanea) of trees or shrubs of the beech family; especially : an American tree (C. dentata) that was formerly a dominant or codominant member of many deciduous forests of the eastern U.S. but has now been largely eliminated by the chestnut blight and seldom grows beyond the shrub or sapling stage

the edible nut of a chestnut

the wood of a chestnut

of the color chestnut

of, relating to, or resembling a chestnut

a destructive disease of the American chestnut marked by cankers of the bark and cambium and caused by an imported fungus (Endothia parasitica synonym Cryphonectria parasitica)

any of several oaks having oblong to lanceolate leaves with crenate or serrate edges: such as

chinquapin oak

a medium-sized oak (Quercus prinus) of eastern North America with large acorns and leaves that are yellow-green above and paler below

an Asian chestnut (Castanea mollissima) that is resistant to chestnut blight

a large tree (Aesculus hippocastanum of the family Hippocastanaceae, the horse-chestnut family) of southeastern Europe that has palmate leaves and erect conical clusters of showy flowers and is widely cultivated as an ornamental and shade tree and naturalized as an escape; also : buckeye

the large glossy brown seed of a horse chestnut

the sweet edible nut of a large Mediterranean chestnut (Castanea sativa) —called also marron

a tree that bears Spanish chestnuts

any of a genus (Trapa, especially T. natans of the family Trapaceae, the water-chestnut family) of Old World aquatic herbs sometimes grown as ornamentals; also : its edible nutlike spiny fruit

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