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US /ˈwɔtəɹkɹɛs/ UK /ˈwɔːtəkɹɛs/
Freq #50933

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a water-loving plant, especially Nasturtium officinale, whose peppery green leaves are eaten in salads or used as a garnish

    She added fresh watercress to the salad for a peppery bite.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a water-loving plant,... cressNasturtium officinale
Word family
Forms watercresses
Derived forms watercressedwatercressingwatercressy
Related forms cressmustardsalad green

Etymology

From Middle English water cresse and water-kresse, a compound of water + cress. Cress descends from Old English cressa or cærse and has Germanic relatives such as Dutch kers and German Kresse. The compound names the plant for its natural habitat in clear streams and other shallow fresh water.

Topics

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