1.
[syn: common plum, Prunus domestica]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Plum \Plum\, n. [AS. pl[=u]me, fr. L. prunum; akin to Gr. ?, ?.
Cf. Prune a dried plum.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Bot.) The edible drupaceous fruit of the Prunus
domestica, and of several other species of Prunus;
also, the tree itself, usually called plum tree.
[1913 Webster]
The bullace, the damson, and the numerous varieties
of plum, of our gardens, although growing into
thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the
blackthorn, produced by long cultivation. --G.
Bentham.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Two or three hundred varieties of plums derived from
the Prunus domestica are described; among them the
greengage, the Orleans, the purple gage, or
Reine Claude Violette, and the German prune, are
some of the best known.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Among the true plums are;
Beach plum, the Prunus maritima, and its crimson or
purple globular drupes,
Bullace plum. See Bullace.
Chickasaw plum, the American Prunus Chicasa, and its
round red drupes.
Orleans plum, a dark reddish purple plum of medium size,
much grown in England for sale in the markets.
Wild plum of America, Prunus Americana, with red or
yellow fruit, the original of the Iowa plum and several
other varieties.
[1913 Webster] Among plants called plum, but of other
genera than Prunus, are;
Australian plum, Cargillia arborea and Cargillia
australis, of the same family with the persimmon.
Blood plum, the West African H[ae]matostaphes Barteri.
Cocoa plum, the Spanish nectarine. See under Nectarine.
Date plum. See under Date.
Gingerbread plum, the West African Parinarium
macrophyllum.
Gopher plum, the Ogeechee lime.
Gray plum, Guinea plum. See under Guinea.
Indian plum, several species of Flacourtia.
[1913 Webster]
2. A grape dried in the sun; a raisin.
[1913 Webster]
3. A handsome fortune or property; formerly, in cant
language, the sum of [pounds]100,000 sterling; also, the
person possessing it.
[1913 Webster]
4. Something likened to a plum in desirableness; a good or
choice thing of its kind, as among appointments,
positions, parts of a book, etc.; as, the mayor rewarded
his cronies with cushy plums, requiring little work for
handsome pay
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
5. A color resembling that of a plum; a slightly grayish deep
purple, varying somewhat in its red or blue tint.
[PJC]
Plum bird, Plum budder (Zool.), the European bullfinch.
Plum gouger (Zool.), a weevil, or curculio (Coccotorus
scutellaris), which destroys plums. It makes round holes
in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva
bores into the stone and eats the kernel.
Plum weevil (Zool.), an American weevil which is very
destructive to plums, nectarines, cherries, and many other
stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped
incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the
pulp around the stone. Called also turk, and plum
curculio. See Illust. under Curculio.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Prune \Prune\, n. [F. prune, from L. prunum a plum. See Plum.]
A plum; esp., a dried plum, used in cookery; as, French or
Turkish prunes; California prunes.
[1913 Webster]
German prune (Bot.), a large dark purple plum, of oval
shape, often one-sided. It is much used for preserving,
either dried or in sirup.
Prune tree. (Bot.)
(a) A tree of the genus Prunus (Prunus domestica), which
produces prunes.
(b) The West Indian tree, Prunus occidentalis.
South African prune (Bot.), the edible fruit of a
sapindaceous tree (Pappea Capensis).
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Damson \Dam"son\ (d[a^]m"z'n), n. [OE. damasin the Damascus
plum, fr. L. Damascenus. See Damascene.]
A small oval plum of a blue color, the fruit of a variety of
the Prunus domestica; -- called also damask plum.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Prunus domestica
n 1: any of various widely distributed plums grown in the cooler
temperate areas [syn: common plum, Prunus domestica]