loofah

loofah
/looh"feuh/, n.
1. Also called dishcloth gourd, rag gourd.
a. any of several tropical vines of the genus Luffa, of the gourd family, bearing large, elongated fruit.
b. the fruit of such a vine.
2. Also called vegetable sponge. the dried, fibrous interior of this fruit, used as a sponge.
Also, loofa, luffa.
[1860-65; < NL Luffa the genus < Ar luf]

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Any of six species of annual climbing vines, also called vegetable sponge or sponge gourd, that make up the genus Luffa in the gourd family, native to the Old World tropics.

Two species cultivated in temperate areas (L. acutangula and L. aegyptiaca) produce 1-ft (30-cm) cucumber-shaped fruits. Edible and greenish when young, these fruits become straw-coloured with age. On removal of the skin, pulp, and seeds, there remains a complex of closely netted vascular bundles (food-and water-carrying tubes) that resembles a sponge in texture. This spongelike product is used for bathing, for washing dishes, and as an industrial fibre.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Loofah — Loofah, s.v.w. Luffa …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • loofah — 1879, from Egyptian Arabic lufah, the name of the plant (Luffa ægyptiaca) with fibrous pods from which flesh brushes are made …   Etymology dictionary

  • loofah — ► NOUN ▪ a fibrous cylindrical object used like a bath sponge, consisting of the dried inner parts of a marrow like tropical fruit. ORIGIN Egyptian Arabic …   English terms dictionary

  • loofah — [lo͞o′fə] n. [Ar lūfah] LUFFA …   English World dictionary

  • loofah — UK [ˈluːfə] / US [ˈlufə] noun [countable] Word forms loofah : singular loofah plural loofahs a long rough object that you use for washing yourself. It is made from a dried tropical fruit …   English dictionary

  • loofah — egiptinė plaušenė statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Moliūginių šeimos aliejinis, daržovinis, maistinis, pluoštinis, vaistinis augalas (Luffa aegyptiaca), paplitęs atogrąžų kraštuose. atitikmenys: lot. Cucurbita luffa; Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • loofah — also luffa noun Etymology: New Latin luffa, from Arabic lūf Date: 1887 1. any of a genus (Luffa) of Old World tropical plants of the gourd family with large fruits; also its fruit 2. a sponge consisting of the fibrous skeleton of the fruit of a… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • loofah — [[t]lu͟ːfə[/t]] loofahs N COUNT A loofah is a long rough sponge like piece of plant fibre which you use to scrub your body …   English dictionary

  • loofah — noun a) A tropical vine, of the genus Luffa, having almost cylindrical fruit with a spongy, fibrous interior; the dishcloth gourd b) The dried …   Wiktionary

  • loofah — loo|fah [ˈlu:fə] n [Date: 1800 1900; : Arabic; Origin: luf] a rough bath ↑sponge, made from the dried inner part of a tropical fruit …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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