[syn: papaw, pawpaw]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Papaw \Pa*paw"\, n. [Prob. from the native name in the West
Indies; cf. Sp. papayo papaw, papaya the fruit of the papaw.]
[Written also pawpaw.]
1. (Bot.) Same as papaya, senses 1 and 2.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. (Bot.) A tree of the genus Asimina (Asimina triloba),
growing in the western and southern parts of the United
States, and producing a sweet edible fruit; also, the
fruit itself. --Gray.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
papaya \pa*pa"ya\, n. [Prob. from the native name in the West
Indies; cf. Sp. papayo papaw, papaya the fruit of the papaw.]
1. (Bot.) A tree (Carica Papaya) of tropical America,
belonging to the order Passiflore[ae]; called also
papaw and pawpaw. It has a soft, spongy stem, eighteen
or twenty feet high, crowned with a tuft of large,
long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The milky juice of
the plant is said to have the property of making meat
tender.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. The fruit of the papaya tree; it is a dull orange-colored,
melon-shaped fruit, which is eaten both raw and cooked or
pickled. The fruit contains papain, a protease.
[1913 Webster + PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
papaw
n 1: small tree native to the eastern United States having
oblong leaves and fleshy fruit [syn: pawpaw, papaw,
papaw tree, Asimina triloba]
2: fruit with yellow flesh; related to custard apples [syn:
papaw, pawpaw]