squash

1. a game for two or four players played in an enclosed court with a small rubber ball and light long-handled rackets. The ball may be hit against any of the walls but must hit the facing wall at a point above a horizontal line

2. a similar game played with larger rackets and a larger pneumatic ball

any of various marrow-like cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Cucurbita, esp C. pepo and C. moschata, the fruits of which have a hard rind surrounding edible flesh

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

(see also Pumpkin) Good source of beta carotene for cancer, (esp. lung cancer)You can eat the big yellow flowers from squash, zucchini and pumpkin, which look great in a salad (and taste good) but don't pick all the flowers or you will not get any squash. Remember- flowers become a fruit/ vegetable. Gourds, pumpkins, and squash are great storage foods for the winter. Squash fruit, leaves and stems can be eaten raw or steamed. The high carotene content makes them good protection against cancer, especially lung cancer, heart disease and type II diabetes. Squash juice helps prevent cell mutations and damaging effects from the sun.

Edible Plant Guide © 2012 Markus Rothkranz

(botany)

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.