FIDDLEHEAD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fiddlehead mean? 

• FIDDLEHEAD (noun)
  The noun FIDDLEHEAD has 2 senses:

1. tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes

2. New World fern having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds; the early uncurling fronds are edible

  Familiarity information: FIDDLEHEAD used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FIDDLEHEAD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

fiddlehead; Matteuccia struthiopteris; Onoclea struthiopteris; ostrich fern; Pteretis struthiopteris; shuttlecock fern

Hypernyms ("fiddlehead" is a kind of...):

fern (any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores)

Holonyms ("fiddlehead" is a member of...):

genus Matteuccia; genus Pteretis; Matteuccia; Pteretis (small genus sometimes included in genus Onoclea; in some classifications both genera are placed in Polypodiaceae)

Sense 2

Meaning:

New World fern having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds; the early uncurling fronds are edible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

cinnamon fern; fiddlehead; fiddlehead fern; Osmunda cinnamonea

Hypernyms ("fiddlehead" is a kind of...):

flowering fern; osmund (any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping rhizomes; naked sporangia are on modified fronds that resemble flower clusters)