VEGETABLE IVORY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does vegetable ivory mean? 

• VEGETABLE IVORY (noun)
  The noun VEGETABLE IVORY has 1 sense:

1. nutlike seed of a South American palm; the hard white shell takes a high polish and is used for e.g. buttons

  Familiarity information: VEGETABLE IVORY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VEGETABLE IVORY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Nutlike seed of a South American palm; the hard white shell takes a high polish and is used for e.g. buttons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

apple nut; ivory nut; vegetable ivory

Hypernyms ("vegetable ivory" is a kind of...):

seed (a small hard fruit)

Holonyms ("vegetable ivory" is a part of...):

ivory-nut palm; ivory palm; ivory plant; Phytelephas macrocarpa (a stemless palm tree of Brazil and Peru bearing ivory nuts)

 Context examples 

Well, it is a vegetable ivory palm, and they run to about fifty or sixty feet.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The vegetation had again changed, and only the vegetable ivory tree remained, with a great profusion of wonderful orchids, among which I learned to recognize the rare Nuttonia Vexillaria and the glorious pink and scarlet blossoms of Cattleya and odontoglossum.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)