an annual climbing leguminous plant, Pisum sativum, with small white flowers and long green pods containing edible green seeds: cultivated in temperate regions the seed of this plant, eaten as a vegetable any of several other leguminous plants, such as the sweet pea, chickpea, and cowpea
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pea1 /pi/USA pronunciation
n., pl. peas, adj.
n. [countable]
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026n. [countable]
- Plant Biologythe round, edible seed of a widely grown plant of the legume family:peas and carrots as a side dish.
- Plant Biologythe plant itself.
- Plant Biologyany of different but similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.
adj.
- of or relating to peas:[before a noun]pea soup.
pea1
(pē),USA pronunciation n., pl. peas, (Archaic or Brit. Dial.) pease;
adj.
n.
adj.
pea′like′, adj.
pea2 (pē),USA pronunciation n. [Naut.]
adj.
n.
- Plant Biology, British Termsthe round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant, Pisum sativum, of the legume family.
- Plant Biology, British Termsthe plant itself.
- Plant Biology, British Termsthe green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.
- Plant Biology, British Termsany of various related or similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.
- British Termssomething resembling a pea, esp. in being small and round.
adj.
- British Termspertaining to, growing, containing, or cooked with peas:We cultivated some tomato vines and a pea patch.
- British Termssmall or small and round (usually used in combination).
- British TermsSee pea coal. Also called English pea, garden pea, green pea (for defs. 1, 2).
- 1275–1325; Middle English; back formation from pease, taken as plural
pea2 (pē),USA pronunciation n. [Naut.]
- Nautical, Naval Termsbill3 (def. 4).
- perh. short for peak1 1825–35
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'pea pod' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):