Definitions

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

  • noun A powdery starch obtained from the pith of certain palm trees and cycads, used as a staple food chiefly in Asia and as a food thickener.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An amylaceous food derived from the soft spongy interior, the so-called “pith,” of the trunks of various palms. (See sago-palm.)

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

  • noun A dry granulated starch imported from the East Indies, much used for making puddings and as an article of diet for the sick; also, as starch, for stiffening textile fabrics. It is prepared from the stems of several East Indian and Malayan palm trees, but chiefly from the Metroxylon Sagu; also from several cycadaceous plants (Cycas revoluta, Zamia integrifolia, etc.).
  • noun a kind of sago prepared from the corms of the cuckoopint (Arum maculatum).
  • noun (Bot.) A species of Cycas (Cycas revoluta).
  • noun (Med.) a morbid condition of the spleen, produced by amyloid degeneration of the organ, in which a cross section shows scattered gray translucent bodies looking like grains of sago.

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

  • noun A powdered starch obtained from certain palms used as a food thickener.
  • noun Any of the palms from which sago is extracted.

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

  • noun powdery starch from certain sago palms; used in Asia as a food thickener and textile stiffener

Etymologies

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

[Malay sagu, mealy pith.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Malay sagu, via Portuguese or Dutch.

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Examples

Comments

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  • I go, you go, we all go for a food thickener and textile stiffener.

    April 21, 2008

  • Let's here it for sago a go-go!

    April 21, 2008

  • Maybe a little carrageenan on the side? Yum!

    April 21, 2008

  • Oh, I love sago pudding. It was one of my favourites as a child, second only to hasty pudding.

    April 21, 2008