Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various edible, fleshy, irregularly rounded ascomycetous fungi, chiefly of the genus Tuber, that grow underground on or near the roots of trees and are valued as a delicacy.
  • noun Any of various round candies made of chocolate, butter or cream, sugar, and various flavorings, often coated with cocoa powder.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A subterranean edible fungus, especially of the ascomycetous genus Tuber.

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

  • noun Any one of several kinds of roundish, subterranean fungi, usually of a blackish color. The French truffle (Tuber melanosporum) and the English truffle (Tuber æstivum) are much esteemed as articles of food.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the larva of a fly of the genus Leiodes, injurious to truffles.

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

  • noun Any of various edible fungi, of the genus Tuber, that grow in the soil in southern Europe; the earthnut.
  • noun A creamy chocolate confection, in the form of a ball, covered with cocoa powder.

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

  • noun edible subterranean fungus of the genus Tuber
  • noun creamy chocolate candy
  • noun any of various highly prized edible subterranean fungi of the genus Tuber; grow naturally in southwestern Europe

Etymologies

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

[Alteration of French trufe, from Old French, from Old Provençal trufa, from Vulgar Latin *tūfera, truffles, from dialectal variant of Latin tūber, lump; see teuə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The word in the Germanic languages (except Icelandic) is a loanword from French truffe (previously trufle) (whence Danish and Norwegian trøffel, German Trüffel), which originates from Old Provençal

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Examples

Comments

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  • I've never eaten one, but apparently they're quite expensive.

    December 4, 2007

  • Costs a fortune. Smells like old socks. Tastes really good grated on risotto.

    January 9, 2008