See Also: Chestnut(medicine)
chestnut(encyclopedia)
Chestnut(recipes)
chestnut(dictionary)
water chestnut(encyclopedia)
chestnut blight(encyclopedia)
chestnut (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
horse chestnut(dictionary)
chestnut 2, adjective(dictionary)
horse chestnut(dictionary)

chestnut (iou)



chestnut noun & adjective. Also chesnut. E16.
[from CHESTEN + NUT noun.]
A. noun.
a. The edible nut of a tree of the genus Castanea, of the beech family; esp. that of C. sativa (also Spanish chestnut, sweet chestnut). Also (with specifying word), any of various fruits etc. resembling this nut. E16.
b. (More fully chestnut tree) the tree itself; (with specifying word) any of various similar trees. Also, the wood of these trees. L16.
c. ellipt. A horse chestnut. L18.
A chestnut colour; a chestnut horse. (See sense B. below.) L16.
The small hard callosity in the skin of the horse at the inner side of the forelegs. M19.
A stale joke or anecdote; anything too often repeated. L19.
Phrases: Cape chestnut: see CAPE noun1. Chinese water chestnut: see WATER noun. HORSE CHESTNUT. MORETON BAY chestnut. pull the chestnuts out of the fire succeed in a hazardous undertaking on behalf of or through the agency of another (with ref. to the fable of a monkey using a cat's paw to get roasting chestnuts from a fire). TAHITI chestnut. water chestnut: see WATER noun. wild chestnut: see WILD adjective.
Comb.: chestnut oak any of various, chiefly N. American, oaks having leaves resembling those of the chestnut; chestnut tree: see sense 1b above.
b. adjective.
Of the colour of a chestnut; deep reddish-brown. M16.
Of a horse: having reddish- or yellowish-brown coloration. L17.
chestnutting noun the gathering of chestnuts L18.
chestnutty adjective (a) resembling the colour or flavour of a chestnut; (b) old and well known, frequently repeated: L19.