loofah

views updated May 23 2018

loo·fah / ˈloōfə/ (also loofa, luffa) • n. 1. a coarse, fibrous cylindrical object used like a bath sponge for washing. It consists of the dried fibrous matter of the fluid-transport system of a marrowlike fruit. 2. the tropical Old World climbing plant (Luffa cylindrica) of the gourd family that produces these fruits, which are also edible.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

Luffa

views updated May 14 2018

Luffa (family Cucurbitaceae) A genus of 6 species of tendrillate climbers of the tropics, including L. aegyptiaca, which furnishes the loofah, the vascular skeleton of the pericarp.

A Dictionary of Plant Sciences MICHAEL ALLABY

loofah

views updated Jun 11 2018

loofah Young fruit of the curcubit Luffa acutangula is edible, but becomes too bitter as it matures.

A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition DAVID A. BENDER

loofah

views updated May 09 2018

loofah See LUFFA.

A Dictionary of Plant Sciences MICHAEL ALLABY

loofah

views updated Jun 27 2018

loofah fibrous substance of a plant used as sponge. XIX. — Arab. lūfa.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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Luffa

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