water chestnut

views updated May 14 2018

wa·ter chest·nut • n. 1. (also Chinese water chestnut) the tuber of a tropical sedge that is widely used in Asian cooking, its white flesh remaining crisp after cooking. 2. the sedge (Eleocharis tuberosa) that yields this tuber, which is cultivated in flooded fields in Southeast Asia. 3. (also water caltrop) an aquatic plant (Trapa natans, family Trapaceae) with small white flowers, producing an edible rounded seed with two large projecting horns.

water chestnut

views updated May 21 2018

water chestnut Seeds of Trapa natans and T. bicornis; see chestnut.

water chestnut

views updated May 29 2018

water chestnut See ELEOCHARIS.