Definitions

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

  • adjective Full of juice or sap; juicy.
  • adjective Botany Having thick, fleshy, water-storing leaves or stems.
  • adjective Highly interesting or enjoyable; delectable.
  • noun A succulent plant, such as a sedum or cactus.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Full of juice; specifically, in botany, juicy; thick and fleshy: noting plants that have the stems or leaves thick or fleshy and juicy, as in the houseleek and live-for-ever, the orders Cactaceæ, Crassulaceæ, etc.
  • Hence Figuratively, affording mental sustenance; not dry.

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

  • adjective Full of juice; juicy.
  • adjective plants (Bot.), plants which have soft and juicy leaves or stems, as the houseleek, the live forever, and the species of Mesembryanthemum.

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

  • adjective juicy or lush
  • adjective interesting or delectable
  • adjective botany having fleshy leaves or other tissues that store water
  • noun a succulent plant (such as cactus)

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

  • adjective full of juice
  • noun a plant adapted to arid conditions and characterized by fleshy water-storing tissues that act as water reservoirs

Etymologies

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

[Latin succulentus, from succus, juice; see seuə- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • This crazy succulent is one I overwintered in the garage under growlights.

    A quick look at what’s blooming on my deck « Sugar Creek Gardens’ Blog 2009

  • These shrub species are sometimes called succulent desert shrubs to distinguish them from shrubs such as creosotebush typically found in the drier Chihuahuan Basins and Playas (24a).

    Ecoregions of Texas (EPA) 2009

  • Oh yeah - not thrilled about the word succulent, either.

    ON THE BUBBLE WITH J.T. ELLISON 2007

  • American desert, the so-called succulent desert of southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

    The Red Man's Continent: a chronicle of aboriginal America Ellsworth Huntington 1911

  • Like so many South African plants, this perennial is succulent, which is why it needs far less water than most other houseplants.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • -- Being unable to articulate a definition of the word "succulent," which forms the basis of his vocabulary lesson.

    Dan Brown: A Voice of Dissent on The Class 2009

  • If you look up the word "succulent" in the dictionary, it has your picture of that pot roast!

    Crock Pot Recipe for Southwestern Pot Roast Kalyn Denny 2008

  • As to what all this looked like and how it tasted, well, you can't eat metaphors, and if I ever use words such as "succulent," shoot me, but suffice it to say that I remember thinking as I walked into the night: If the Roman emperors can be said to have missed out on anything, it was this.

    If You Knew Sushi Tosches, Nick 2007

  • As to what all this looked like and how it tasted, well, you can't eat metaphors, and if I ever use words such as "succulent," shoot me, but suffice it to say that I remember thinking as I walked into the night: If the Roman emperors can be said to have missed out on anything, it was this.

    If You Knew Sushi Tosches, Nick 2007

  • Julia had that particular kind of succulent charm — bright, dotty, soft, eager, acquiescent, flattering, impudent — that is specially, it seems, produced for the delight of Anglo-Saxon manhood.

    The Complete Stories Waugh, Evelyn 1998

Comments

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  • "full of juice"

    August 13, 2007

  • STANLEY. Succulent.

    MEG. You shouldn't say that word.

    STANLEY. What word?

    MEG. That word you said.

    STANLEY. What, succulent—?

    MEG. Don't say it!

    STANLEY. What's the matter with it?

    MEG. You shouldn't say that word to a married woman.

    STANLEY. Is that a fact?

    MEG: Yes.

    STANLEY. Well. I never knew that.

    —Pinter, The Birthday Party

    December 27, 2008