tomato

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: Sp. or Pg. tomate, of American Indian origin; cf. Mexican tomail.

Botany The fruit of a plant of the Nightshade family (Lycopersicum esculentun); also, the plant itself. The fruit, which is called also love apple, is usually of a rounded, flattened form, but often irregular in shape. It is of a bright red or yellow color, and is eaten either cooked or uncooked.

Tomato gall Zoology, a large gall consisting of a mass of irregular swellings on the stems and leaves of grapevines. They are yellowish green, somewhat tinged with red, and produced by the larva of a small two-winged fly (Lasioptera vitis). — Tomato sphinx Zoology, the adult or imago of the tomato worm. It closely resembles the tobacco hawk moth. Called also tomato hawk moth. See Illust. of Hawk moth. — Tomato worm Zoology, the larva of a large hawk moth (Manduca quinquemaculata, Protoparce quinquemaculata, Sphinx quinquemaculata, or Macrosila quinquemaculata) which feeds upon the leaves of the tomato and potato plants, often doing considerable damage. Called also tomato hornworm and potato worm, and in the Southern U. S. tobacco fly.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC