English

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cashew tree
 
ripe cashew apples
 
toasted cashew nuts

Etymology

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    Reanalysis of French acajou as a + cajou, from Old Tupi akaîu. Doublet of acajou.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    cashew (plural cashews)

    1. A tree, Anacardium occidentale, native to northeastern Brazil, now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.
      Synonym: acajou
      • 2002, P. K. Ray, Breeding Tropical and Subtropical Fruits[1], page 221:
        Soft-wood grafting and veneer grafting are successful in cashew.
      • 2005, Roger Martin, Tree-Kangaroos of Australia and New Guinea[2], page 106:
        Also known as the Native Cashew, it is a member of the Anacardiaceae, the same plant family to which the Cashew and Mango trees belong.
      • 2007, Alice Kurian, K. V. Peter (series editor), Commercial Crops Technology (Horticulture Science; 8)‎[3], page 63:
        Cashew (Anacardium occidental L.) is an export-oriented crop grown for its nuts, a true drupe.
    2. A cashew nut.
      • 1996, Thomas Payne, “17: Nuts”, in Laszlo Somogyi, Diane M. Barrett, Y. H. Hui, editors, Processing Fruits[4], page 529:
        In some countries, cashews continue to be cracked manually although cracking machinery and other shelling mechanisms have been introduced.
      • 2004, Frederic Rosengarten, Jr., The Book of Edible Nuts[5], page 46:
        The bland cashew is a fitting substitute for higher priced almonds to extend the nut texture. In baking, however, almonds are more suitable for cake decoration than cashews.
      • 2010, Dick Logue, 500 Low Glycemic Index Recipes[6], page 413:
        This is a spicy variation of Kung Pao Chicken using cashews rather than the more common peanuts.

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