Fiddlehead

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  fiddlehead \fid"dle*head`\ n.
     1. any of several tall ferns of northern temperate regions
        having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling
        ostrich plumes.
  
     Syn: ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, {Matteuccia


          struthiopteris}, {Pteretis struthiopteris}, {Onoclea
          struthiopteris}.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. New World fern ({Osmunda cinnamonea}) having woolly
        cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring
        later surrounded by green fronds, called also {fiddlehead
        fern}; the early uncurling fronds are edible, and
        sometimes considered as a vegetable delicacy.
  
     Syn: cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, {Osmunda cinnamonea}.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     3. (Naut.) an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the
        volute or scroll at the head of a violin. Sometimes it
        serves the function of a {billhead}.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fiddlehead
       n 1: tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful
            arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
            [syn: {ostrich fern}, {shuttlecock fern}, {Matteuccia
            struthiopteris}, {Pteretis struthiopteris}, {Onoclea
            struthiopteris}]
       2: New World fern having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing
          fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds;
          the early uncurling fronds are edible [syn: {cinnamon fern},
           {fiddlehead fern}, {Osmunda cinnamonea}]