Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A biennial Eurasian plant (Beta vulgaris) grown as a crop plant for its edible roots and leaves.
  • noun The swollen root of this plant eaten as a vegetable, typically having reddish flesh.
  • noun The sugar beet.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as beat.
  • noun A plant of the genus Beta, natural order Chenopodiaceœ.
  • noun Same as beat.
  • To make better; improve; alleviate or relieve (hunger, thirst, grief, the needs of a person, etc.).
  • To mend; repair; put to rights.
  • To make or kindle (a fire); hence, to fire or rouse.
  • To mend or replenish (a fire); add fuel to.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A biennial plant of the genus Beta, which produces an edible root the first year and seed the second year.
  • noun The root of plants of the genus Beta, different species and varieties of which are used for the table, for feeding stock, or in making sugar.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun singular only Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar.
  • noun countable An individual plant (organism) of that species.
  • noun countable A swollen root of such a plant.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun round red root vegetable
  • noun biennial Eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English bete, from Old English bēte, from Latin bēta.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English bete, from Latin beta. Most likely of Celtic etymology.

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Examples

  • Therefore, Wiggs kept the word beet to himself, fine and private, despite his sensitivity to Priscilla's burning curiosity about the comettailed vegetable that had extended its crimson orbit into her atmosphere.

    La insistencia de Jürgen Fauth 2010

  • And yet ever so simple, just hard-boiled eggs soaked overnight in beet juice.

    Archive 2005-03-01 2005

  • In addition, a minimum pricing system run by the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] guarantees that sugar made from his beet is bought for at least three times more than world prices.

    The bitter taste of the CAP 2005

  • In addition, a minimum pricing system run by the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] guarantees that sugar made from his beet is bought for at least three times more than world prices.

    Archive 2005-06-01 2005

  • In Michoacan, a piece of beet is often added instead of jamaica to color the punch.

    Holiday punch: Ponche navideño 2004

  • In Michoacan, a piece of beet is often added instead of jamaica to color the punch.

    Holiday punch: Ponche navideño 2004

  • In Michoacan, a piece of beet is often added instead of jamaica to color the punch.

    Holiday punch: Ponche navideño 2004

  • In Michoacan, a piece of beet is often added instead of jamaica to color the punch.

    Holiday punch: Ponche navideño 2004

  • Red beet is cultivated in the same manner, and plants that are sown in March will have roots ready for the table in September or October.

    The Lady's Country Companion: or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally Jane 1845

  • The first time she met a beet was the day she landed in Chicago.

    One Big Table Molly O’Neill 2010

Comments

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  • "To make better; improve; alleviate or relieve (hunger, thirst, grief, the needs of a person, etc.)."

    -- from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

    July 16, 2018