melonn.1
/ˈmɛlən/, U.S. /ˈmɛlən/ 1.
a. Any of various kinds of edible gourd. Now chiefly: the fruit of any of the varieties of Cucumis melo, typically large and globose to oblong, with smooth, netted, or warty rind and sweet pulpy flesh which is variously green, orange, or yellowish pink; (also) the plant which bears this fruit, a climbing or trailing yellow-flowered annual with lobed leaves, widely grown in warmer regions of the world. Also: the watermelon (both the plant, Citrullus lanatus, and its fruit).Varieties of Cucumis melo include: canteloupe, honeydew, musk melon, etc. (see the first element).
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > gourd > [noun] > melon
melona1398
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > gourd > melon
melona1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 316 Gourdes, citrulles, melones..ben more vsed in medicyne þan in oþer mete... Here substaunce..quencheþ colera and hete.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 190 (MED) Do þerto seed of melonis.
a1425 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) Num. xi. 5 Gourdis and melouns..comen in to mynde to vs.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) v. 94 Cucumber now is sowe; Melones, peletur, cappare, and leek.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 245/1 Myllon a frute, melon.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xxi. sig. K.iv Mylons doth ingender euyl humoures.
1563 T. Hill Most Briefe Treat. Garden (new ed.) sig. Fv Melones, and al the kindes of the Pompones, be set in beddes well digged vp and dressed.
1597 W. Langham Garden of Health 389 Many eate the Mellons with vineger, Peniroyall and Onions mixed together.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xcix Citruls or Turkey Millions are of the same temperature as the Gourd.
1691 London Gaz. No. 2724/2 A piece of pure Gold in form of a Mellon.
1767 Ann. Reg. 1766 108 A melon raised..in Southwark upon tan was sold in Covent-garden Market.
1790 S. Deane New-Eng. Farmer 171/2 Of all the kinds of melons, Mr. Miller greatly prefers the cantaleupe.
1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) iii. i. 674 The pumpkin, pumpion, or more correctly, pompion... This is the melon or millon of our early horticulturists, the true melon being formerly distinguished by the name of musk-melon.
1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 118 A pretty little old-fashioned variety,—Queen Anne's Pocket Melon..produces green-fleshed well-flavoured fruit, the size of a large orange.
1903 H. James Ambassadors xxxvi. 428 He partook..of the charming melon, which she liberally cut for him.
1986 D. Johnson Stars at Noon (1987) 35 Mounds of crushed ice in which were bedded down sliced pineapple and three or four kinds of melon.
b. Any of the various colours of melon flesh, typically a greenish yellow. See also Compounds 1c.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink > yellowish pink
melon pink1774
melon1895
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. 2335 (table) Solar Spectrum and Typical colours... Melon.
1930 A. Maerz & M. R. Paul Dict. Color 199/1 Melon.
1975 Harpers & Queen June 172/3 Striped swimsuit... Cassis, citron, melon,..chocolate.
1984 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring–Summer 447 Cotton sweaters... Colors Melon..Natural..Green.
c. colloquial. to cut the melon: to decide a question. rare.
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the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > settlement of dispute, arbitration > settle, arbitrate [verb (transitive)]
redeOE
to-dealc1275
deraignc1330
determinec1380
award1393
decidec1400
decise?a1425
decernc1425
discernc1425
arbitrea1513
deema1513
moder1534
resolve1586
divide1596
arbitrate1597
fit1600
moderate1602
umpire1609
sopite1628
appointa1631
determinate1647
issue1650
settle1651
to cut the melon1911
1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights xii. 308 The O.M. as usual cuts the melon with a word.
2. Conchology. More fully melon shell, melon volute. Any of various large, smooth-shelled volutes of the tropical Indo-Pacific, esp. of the genera Melo and Cymbium; the shell of such a volute. Also called bailer-shell.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Siphonostomata > family Volutidae > shell of member of genus Cymbium
melon shell1776
bailer shell1908
1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. x. 194 None have a pillar or columella lip; though in some, as the Persian Crowns and Melons, the columella or pillar itself is wrinkled or pleated.
1815 E. J. Burrow Elements Conchol. 200 Voluta Æthiopica. White-mouth'd Melon.
1840 W. Swainson Treat. Malacol. 100 The pre-eminently typical volutes, or melon-shells.
1840 W. Swainson Treat. Malacol. 99 The truncated and wide-mouthed helmet-shells, among the Muricidæ, find their prototypes in the melon volutes.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. iv. 149 Some name them [sc. bailer shells]..the ‘boat’, and again the melon shell.
1936 T. C. Roughley Wonders of Great Barrier Reef 111 One of the largest and most interesting of the univalves..inhabiting the waters of the Great Barrier Reef is the bailer- or melon-shell.
1971 B. R. Wilson & K. Gillett Austral. Shells 138/1 The shells are popularly known as Melons or Balers, and for sheer size they have few equals among living gastropods.
3. Zoology. A rounded organ found in the head of many toothed whales, which is made of a waxy material and is believed to focus acoustic signals; the dome which this organ forms on the forehead.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [noun] > parts of > other parts of
life1838
tympano-periotic1870
melon-blubber1877
melon1879
1879 G. B. Goode Catal. Coll. Animal Resources & Fisheries U.S.: Internat. Exhib. 1876 (Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 14) 225 ‘Melon’ blubber of black-fish.
1887 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S.: Hist. & Methods II. xvi. 299 About 30 gallons of oil..being obtained from each fish, besides about 6 quarts of extra oil from the melon. The melons are taken from the top of the head.
1968 C. Osborne tr. R. Stenuit Dolphin (1969) 118 The sperm whale possesses under its huge square brow, a special reservoir called a ‘melon’ filled with..spermaceti.
1992 D. G. Campbell Crystal Desert x. 204 The toothed whales' concave skulls and bulbous heads, known as melons, are oil lenses, manipulated by muscles, that focus the sonar impulses.
4. slang.
a. Chiefly Australian and New Zealand. An ignorant, naive, or foolish person.
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1896 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang IV. 300 Melon (Royal Military Academy), a new cadet.
1938 Press (Christchurch) 2 Apr. 18 [He] might be..told..that he was ‘a melon’ to have come out and ‘given it a pop’.
1955 R. Lawler Summer of Seventeenth Doll (1965) 111 Whose fault was it we come a cropper?.. Nobody's fault, yer melon!
1968 S. Gore Holy Smoke 27 This poor coot, squattin' on the edge of the pig trough, rolling himself a smoke, and trying to nut something out..suddenly..thinks, ‘Strewth—how big a melon can a man be?’.
b. Australian and U.S. A person's head.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [noun]
nolleOE
headOE
topa1225
copc1264
scalpa1300
chiefc1330
crownc1330
jowla1400
poll?a1400
testea1400
ball in the hoodc1400
palleta1425
noddle?1507
costard?1515
nab?1536
neck1560
coxcomb1567
sconce1567
now1568
headpiece1579
mazer1581
mazardc1595
cockcomb1602
costrel1604
cranion1611
pasha1616
noddle pate1622
block1635
cranium1647
sallet1652
poundrel1664
nob1699
crany?1730
knowledge box1755
noodle1762
noggin1769
napper1785
garret1796
pimple1811
knowledge-casket1822
coco1828
cobbra1832
coconut1834
top-piece1838
nut1841
barnet1857
twopenny1859
chump1864
topknot1869
conk1870
masthead1884
filbert1886
bonce1889
crumpet1891
dome1891
roof1897
beanc1905
belfry1907
hat rack1907
melon1907
box1908
lemon1923
loaf1925
pound1933
sconec1945
nana1966
1907 Truth (Sydney) 12 May 8/5 (heading) Woodford wields a waddy and mangles Monaghan's melon.
1948 B. McHenry & F. N. Myers Home is Sailor viii. 94 What kind of nonsense goes on in that beautiful melon.
1971 D. Ireland Unknown Industr. Prisoner 98 One of the engineers..bravely approached the hole, lowering his head to look inside. ‘Why don't you shove your melon right in?’ roared the Humdinger.
1996 D. McCumber Playing off Rail iii. 89 I can hit somebody in the melon with one at ten feet.
c. In plural. Large breasts.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [noun]
titOE
breastOE
mammaOE
pysea1400
mamellec1450
dug1530
duckya1533
bag1579
pommela1586
mam1611
Milky Way1622
bubby?1660
udder1702
globea1727
fore-buttock1727
tetty1746
breastwork?1760
diddy1788
snows1803
sweets1817
titty1865
pappy1869
Charleys1874
bub1881
breastiec1900
ninny1909
pair1919
boobs1932
boobya1934
fun bag1938
maraca1940
knockers1941
can1946
mammaries1947
bazooms1955
jug1957
melon1957
bosoms1959
Bristols1961
chichi1961
nork1962
puppies1963
rack1968
knob1970
dingleberry1980
jubblies1991
1957 L. Giovannitti Prisoners of Combine D iv. 152 Every now and then her strap would fall down and I'd get a good look at those melons.
1972 Pussycat 33 lix. 10/2 She released the catch on her bra and slipped it off... Her full and shapely melons swung and swayed and drooped as she moved.
1991 G. Keillor WLT: Radio Romance xiii. 107 The ones with the melons,..you have to throw a flag over them feedsacks so they don't bang you on the head, so you want a woman with nice little titties.
5. colloquial. A large profit to be divided among a number of people; frequently in figurative context. See also melon-cutting n. at Compounds 2.
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society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > profit > [noun] > profit to be shared
dividend1623
melon1909
1909 N.Y. Evening Post (Semi-weekly ed.) 7 Oct. 2 A purse of $25,000 will be distributed among employees. About 8,000 men will participate in the cutting of the melon.
1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 11 Apr. 14/2 The Suez Canal..has been earning a gross revenue of upward of $20,000,000 a year, forming one of the juiciest melons every year anywhere in the world.
1939 New Statesman 7 Jan. 7/1 The enemy could practically destroy our commerce and industry... Every nation of the world would have an incentive to have a free cut at the melon.
1948 Aurora (Illinois) Beacon News 7 Nov. (Suppl.) 39/2 This year, a record number of your friends and neighbors will split a record ‘melon’ in our 1948 savings clubs.
1964 P. Wyckoff Dict. Stock Market Terms 163 Melon, slang expression referring to the sum total of extraordinary profits waiting to be divided.
1979 J. Homer Jargon 26 Good news, stockholders. There'll be melons in your garden this year.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive and objective.† melon bank n. Obsolete rare† melon-infusion n. Obsolete rare† melon-monger n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1716 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (ed. 4) II. 174 They thrive best..in such places as they have not grown in before, especially on the sides of Melon Banks.
melon bed n.
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1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. ii. 25 I call my selfe his sonne,..since that from that Mellon-bed I was made legitimate by the holy right of Matrimony.
1794 J. MacPhail Treat. Culture Cucumber 83 The seeds are sown some time about the middle of April in a cucumber or melon bed.
1894 R. Kipling Jungle Bk. 142 I must get to the melon-bed, and if I went there now she'd see me.
1993 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 22 Aug. 19 Above the house..is an acre of walled garden..with a hollow back wall designed for coal fires to heat melon beds and peach houses.
melon flower n.
ΚΠ
1845 R. Browning Bells & Pomegranates No. VII: Dramatic Romances & Lyrics vii. 8/2 The buttercups, the little children's dower,—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!
1992 Times (Nexis) 21 Mar. (Sat. Review) 20/4 The most inspiring [painting] was a bright yellow melon flower on a tumbling emerald vine.
melon frame n.
ΚΠ
1687 in G. S. Thomson Life in Noble Househ. (1937) xiii. 257 (modernized text) For 3 quarries of new glass in the melon frames.
1757 Gentleman's Mag. 27 165/1 Rational and easy methods to purify the Air, and regulate its heat in Melon-Frames and hot Green-houses.
1816 W. Combe Eng. Dance of Death II. 77 For while the Gard'ner took his aim, Death stood beside the Melon frame.
1993 Times (Nexis) 23 Oct. (Weekend) 12/4 The smaller one [sc. a garden] has a fine curving upper wall and contains melon frames.
melon garden n.
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1664 T. Killigrew Parsons Wedding v. i, in Comedies & Trag. 138 One of the Watermen is gone to the Mellon Garden.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Melon The Melon-Gardens in Spain, Portugal and the Southern Parts of France are seldom regarded after they are sown.
1998 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 22 Jan. 17 The Lost Valley..has a series of beautiful lakes and truly ancient trees. There is also a melon garden and a pineapple pit.
melon ground n.
ΚΠ
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 138 In what manner you should inclose your Melon ground.
1774 Heroic Epist. to Sir W. Chambers (ed. 13) 9 From his melon-ground the peasant slave Has rudely rush'd.
1836 Southern Literary Messenger 2 563/2 The robbing of orchards, gardens, melon-grounds, and even poultry yards, are often considered by boys as mere frolicks.
1999 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 19 July (Review Suppl.) 51 An avenue of palm trees led to walled fruit gardens with heated peach houses, melon grounds, and pineapple pits.
melon harvest n.
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1849 M. Arnold Strayed Reveller, & Other Poems 24 Worms I' the unkind spring have gnaw'd Their melon-harvest to the heart.
1999 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 27 June h8 The melon harvest from the Imperial Valley is in full swing.
ΚΠ
1881 J. Tyndall Ess. Floating Matter of Air 173 The tubes in one of the chambers containing melon-infusion had become rapidly turbid.
melon leaf n.
ΚΠ
1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. I. i. 6 A broad melon-leaf.
1994 Representations Spring 58 (caption) Melon leaves.
melon merchant n.
ΚΠ
1727 S. Switzer Pract. Kitchen Gardiner ii. vii. 55 Good glasses, without which the melon-merchant can't effect his purpose.
1891 W. Sharp Sospiri di Roma 86 The water-seller sounding hollowly His Fresca, acqua fresca, fred' e fresc'! Or melon-merchant shrilling loud and thin His long fantastic cry.
1996 News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) 14 May b1 Larry Gilbertson prepares to catch a watermelon tossed Monday by a co-worker... The melon merchants were making their weekly delivery of this quintessential summer product.
ΚΠ
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 59 I am like a Melon-mongers Knife, cutting here a slice, and there a slice.
melon patch n.
ΚΠ
1786 G. Washington Farm Rep. 1 Apr. in Papers (1994) Confederation Ser. III. 404 Went to hoeing ground for Mellon patch.
1800 C. B. Brown Arthur Mervyn II. vii. 68 On one side was a potatoe field, on the other a melon-patch.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. v. 39 As we rode up the draw we skirted a big melon patch, and a garden where squashes and yellow cucumbers lay about on the sod.
1978 E. Birney Big Bird in Bush 57 The Telfords walked over later, down through the back melonpatch.
melon pit n.
ΚΠ
1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) iii. i. 511 Knight's melon-pit,..which may also be applied to the culture of cucumbers.
1996 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Sept. 24 Even the more modest garden at Newhall, Midlothian, had a peach house, a vinery and a heated melon pit.
melon plant n.
ΚΠ
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Hot-bed Some..have them [sc. Frames] to contain but two Lights, which is very handy for raising Cucumber and Melon Plants.
1849 M. Arnold Strayed Reveller, & Other Poems 20 A floating isle thick matted With large-leav'd, low-creeping melon-plants.
1905 Daily News 14 Apr. 4 That dread disease of cucumber and melon plants, known as ‘spot’.
1992 Brownie (BNC) Mar. 4 You could also try growing a lemon tree, peach tree or melon plant.
melon seed n.
ΚΠ
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iv. 176 Now melon seed too foote atwene is sette.
1700 J. Jackson in S. Pepys Private Corr. & Miscell. Papers (1926) I. 302 I will look out for an opportunity of sending a better stock, both of that and melon-seed, to Paris.
1857 G. W. Thornbury Songs of Cavaliers & Roundheads 308 The peasant sows his melon seed, The goats beside him crop and feed.
1920 J. Masefield Enslaved 47 He cracked and relished nuts or melon-seeds.
1997 A. Oswald Thing in Gap-stone Stile 36 He sowed a melon seed. He whistled in the greenhouse.
melon vine n.
ΚΠ
1763 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry IV. 182 The melon vines will waste themselves by running out in length.
1844 W. H. C. Hosmer Yonnondio vi. xvii. 167 Podded bean, and melon-vine, Sated with draughts of dewy wine.
1980 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 11 Apr. 14 Tomatoes..have been grafted onto potatoes, and even a sunflower has been made to grow on a melon vine.
b. Parasynthetic and similative.
melon-formed adj.
ΚΠ
1819 F. MacDonogh Hermit in London III. 170 Her melon-formed head and double chin.
1873 Appletons' Jrnl. 10 May 629/3 To complete our picture of Khivan rural life we must put in the children..conspicuous for their large, melon-formed caps.
melon-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1759 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 7) at Carica Plumier mentions three of the female or fruitful Papaw, beside the male, one of which he titles Melon-shaped, and the other shaped like the fruit of the Gourd.
1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. 374 Melon-shaped, irregularly spherical, with projecting ribs; as the stem of Cactus melocactus: a bad term.
1972 Trans. Oriental Ceramic Soc. 37 The two vases..with their melon-shaped bodies, have much in common.
2006 Y. Yun & R. Krahl Korean Art Fitzwilliam Museum ii. 119 This type of melon-shaped ewer, which has a typical Koryo form, was used for wine.
c. Modifying the names of colours, as melon pink, melon yellow, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink > yellowish pink
melon pink1774
melon1895
1774 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 63 391 An Anemone, whose limbs are of the melon-yellow colour.
1949 Dict. Colours for Interior Decoration (Brit. Colour Council) III. 17/2 Melon pink,..a descriptive colour name, from the fruit, used in the textile trade.
1975 Country Life 6 Mar. 561/2 Daylilies..provide a show of yellows, melon pinks and apricots.
1983 Washington Post (Nexis) 15 Aug. c1 Palm Beach is a wholly owned subsidiary, white and melon yellow with Spanish tile roofs.
C2. † melon fruit n. Obsolete rare the papaya; the fruit of the melon tree.† melon glass n. Obsolete a glazed frame under which melons can be cultivated in a cool climate.† melon-pompion n. [compare classical Latin mēlopepō melopepon n.] Obsolete rare = melon pumpkin n.† melon-thick n. Caribbean Obsolete rare = melon-cactus n.† melon-wood n. Obsolete rare a yellow Mexican wood (not identified), said to resemble red sandalwood ( Pterocarpus santalinus).Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
melon ball n. a marble-sized ball of melon, often used as a garnish or in fruit salads; usually in plural.
ΚΠ
1933 G. A. Callahan Sunset All-western Cook Bk. 81/2 Pour mixture over the melon balls, then put in refrigerator to chill.
1986 N.Y. Post 9 July 37 Combine melon balls or chunks with blueberries, sliced nectarines and any other cut-up seasonal fruits.
melon baller n. a teaspoon-like utensil with a rounded bowl, used for scooping out melon balls.
ΚΠ
1969 R. DeSola & D. DeSola Dict. Cooking 150/2 Melon baller, utensil with a small very round bowl for scooping out balls of melon flesh.
1973 Y. Y. Tarr Farmhouse Cookbk. 373 Halve and seed the melons. With a melon baller, scoop balls of pulp from them... Place the melon balls in a large bowl.
1993 Canad. Living Feb. 45/1 Using melon baller or teaspoon, hollow out onion to make ½-inch (1 cm) thick shell.
melon beetle n. U.S. rare a cucumber beetle, esp. the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittata, a serious pest of melons and related plants.
ΚΠ
1890 Webster's Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Melon beetle, a small leaf beetle (Diabrotica vittata), which damages the leaves of melon vines.
melon-blubber n. now rare = sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [noun] > parts of > other parts of
life1838
tympano-periotic1870
melon-blubber1877
melon1879
1877 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 14. 225 ‘Melon’ blubber of black-fish.
1890 Cent. Dict. Melon-blubber, the melon of a cetacean.
melon-cactus n. a cactus of the genus Melocactus (see Melocactus n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > melon-cactus
pope's head1699
melon thistle1725
Turk's head1725
Melocactus1731
Turk's cap1731
melon-cactus1845
1845 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 19 Apr. 253/2 The melon-cactus, or Turk's cap.
1869 J. W. Foster Mississippi Valley 88 The melon-cactus contains within its prickly envelope a watery pulp which the mule, parching with thirst, opens with his foot and extracts with his lips.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VI. 774/1 Melocactus species are also called melon-cacti for their size and shape.
melon-caterpillar n. U.S. rare = melonworm n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types > miscellaneous types
high-flyer?1749
nonpareil1749
porphyry1819
satin carpet1819
satin pygmy1828
scopolian1829
chalk carpet1832
sieve lackey1832
sprawler1832
tissue1832
treble bar1832
treble gold stripe1832
vesper-beauty1832
viburnian1832
yellowhead1832
flame carpet1862
sting-moth1863
lilac moth1868
luna-moth1869
melon-caterpillar1884
wood-nymph1885
unicorn-moth1891
geometer moth1897
the suspected1908
porina1929
tomato pinworm1931
mopane worm1966
1884 Standard Nat. Hist. II. 444 The melon-caterpillar, Eudioptis hyalinata, which occurs throughout the greater portions of North America and South America.
melon-cutting n. colloquial the dividing up of large profits; cf. sense 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > specific operations or arrangements
intromission1567
hedginga1631
retiring1681
partnership1704
put1718
time bargain1720
bargain for time1721
option1746
call1825
put and call1826
cornering1841
corner1853
raid1866
pooling1871
squeeze1872
call option1874
recapitalization1874
short squeeze1877
split-up1878
margin call1888
pyramid1888
profit taking1891
pyramiding1895
underwriting1895
melon-cutting1900
round turn1901
market-making1902
put-through1902
put and take1921
round trip1922
put and take1929
leverage1931
split-down1932
switching1932
give-up1934
mark to market1938
recap1940
rollover1947
downtick1954
stock split1955
traded option1955
leg1959
stock splitting1959
rollover1961
split1972
spread betting1972
unitization1974
marking-to-market1981
swap1982
telebroking1984
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > [noun] > sharing profits
melon-cutting1900
1900 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 15 127 Such ‘melon-cutting,’ in the parlance of Wall Street, may range as high as 100 per cent.
1990 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 23 June c3 The horse's handlers will demur, pointing out that if they ship to Beulah Park..they can pick up a hundred grand without fear of competition. On occasion, Lukas engages in such melon cutting.
melon feast n. a celebration at which prizes are given for the finest melons; a feast or celebration at which melons are the principal food.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [noun] > rustic festivities
harvest home1573
maiden1806
hog-killing1817
melon feast1826
crop-over1894
1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village II. 4 Lending his willing aid in waiting and entertaining..at pink-feasts and melon-feasts.
1999 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. (Nexis) 24 Sept. 2 d/1 I remember when I was a youngster, a grape and melon feast was held by our neighbor Lovel Everson.
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1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Melon Fruit (Carica papaya), the West India Pawpaw; called also Tree-Melon.
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1674 in W. M. Myddelton Chirk Castle Accts. (1931) II. 107 3 dozen of mellon glasses.
a1706 J. Evelyn Direct. for Gardiner (1932) 107 50 Melon glasses 1 Turfe beater.
melonhead n. slang (chiefly U.S. and Australian) an idiot, a foolish person; cf. sense 4a.
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1818 Oxf. (N.Y.) Gaz. 25 Sept. 2/2 The profound editor of the Advocate..bestows upon us a few stale and hackneyed epithets, such as ‘small fry’, ‘melon head’.
1932 J. L. Mankiewicz & H. S. Myer Million Dollar Legs (film script) Come on, get up, ya big melonhead.
1992 N.Y. Times 25 Mar. a4/5 One of Mr. Deng's family members is less polite, telling friends that Mr. Li is a ‘melon-head.’
melon-hood n. rare (perh. Obsolete) an agaric (mushroom) of grassland, Camarophyllus (Hygrophorus) pratensis, said to smell of melons; also called meadow wax cap.
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the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > mouse-hood
melon-hood1887
mouse hood1887
1887 W. D. Hay Elem. Text-bk. Brit. Fungi 99 Hygrophorus pratensis, the Melon-hood.
melon oil n. now rare (perh. Obsolete) oil extracted from the melon of a toothed whale.
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1887 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S. II. v. 309 The melon oil of the black-fish.
c1904 Encycl. Dict. Suppl. Melon oil, the oil obtained from the melon blubber of a cetacean, used for lubricating fine machinery, as that of watches.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > fruits as vegetables > squash
melon-pompion1577
simnel1640
squash1643
cushaw1698
simlin1775
squash-pumpkin1819
squash gourd1823
summer crookneck1832
melon pumpkin1840
bush gourd1842
crook-neck1844
Hubbard squash1868
mirliton1901
butternut pumpkin1916
buttercup1930
butternut1940
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 62* When they growe rounde, they are Melonpompeons [L. melopepones].
melon pumpkin n. any of several varieties of squash, esp. the winter squash, Cucurbita maxima or C. moschata.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > fruits as vegetables > squash
melon-pompion1577
simnel1640
squash1643
cushaw1698
simlin1775
squash-pumpkin1819
squash gourd1823
summer crookneck1832
melon pumpkin1840
bush gourd1842
crook-neck1844
Hubbard squash1868
mirliton1901
butternut pumpkin1916
buttercup1930
butternut1940
1840 J. Paxton Pocket Bot. Dict. Melon-pumpkin see Cucurbita Melopepo.
1904 F. W. Oliver et al. tr. A. Kerner von Marilaun Nat. Hist. Plants (ed. 2) ii. 452 Fruits of the melon-pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) have a greatest diameter of over a metre.
1972 Y. Lovelock Veg. Bk. 118 The musk or melon pumpkin (C[ucurbita] moschata) is a winter vegetable of Central American origin... It..needs more heat than other species.
melon-seed body n. Medicine a small, fibrinous, loose body resembling a melon seed, found in considerable numbers in inflamed joints, tendon sheaths, bursae, etc.
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1818 B. C. Brodie Pathol. & Surg. Observ. Dis. Joints vii. 308 When the inflammation is of long standing, it is not unusual to find floating in the fluid of the bursa a number of loose bodies,..resembling small melon seeds in appearance.]
1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 261 An incision was made into the..tumour,..and a quantity of clear fluid containing numbers of ‘melon-seed’ bodies pressed out.
1968 S. Taylor & L. Cotton Short Textbk. Surg. (ed. 2) xii. 143 The synovial sheaths are thickened by granulation tissue and fibrinous deposit and often contain numerous ‘melon-seed bodies’ composed of fibrin.
1973 Austral. Vet. Jrnl. 49 50/1 The melon-seed bodies were composed of a pale eosinophilic hyaline centre, surrounded by a less dense fibrinous zone.
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1864 A. H. R. Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Indian Islands 785 Melon-thick, Melocactus communis.
melon thistle n. = melon-cactus n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > melon-cactus
pope's head1699
melon thistle1725
Turk's head1725
Melocactus1731
Turk's cap1731
melon-cactus1845
1725 R. Bradley Hist. Succulent Plants iii. 11/2 This Melon-Thistle is brought to us from the Cape of Good-Hope.
1836 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Plants (rev. ed.) 410 The smaller melon thistle..is tubercled all over.
1926 W. Fawcett & A. B. Rendle Flora Jamaica V. 283 Melocactus communis, Turk's Head, Turk's Cap, Pope's Head, Melon Thistle.
1986 N.Y. Times 5 Sept. c25/2 She brings the same botanical knowhow to exotica such as the cactus-like Melon Thistle.
melon tree n. the papaya tree, Carica papaya.
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1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum Melo Corcopali, The American Quince Melon-tree..bearing a large Fruit as great as a Melon.]
1885 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. IV. ii Melon-tree (Bot.), the Papaw.
1929 H. A. A. Nicholls & J. H. Holland Text-bk. Trop. Agric. (ed. 2) ii. xii. 369 Papaw, Carica papaya... Fruits..yellowish when ripe and not unlike a large melon (hence the name ‘melon tree’ sometimes given).
1972 Y. Lovelock Veg. Bk. i. 109 The melon tree.., of Central American origin, bears fruit known as pawpaw or papaya.
melon ware n. now historical pottery or porcelain vessels shaped and painted so as to resemble melons.
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1817 W. Pitt Topogr. Hist. Staffs. i. 421 A similar application of calcined copper, iron, and other metals, gave rise to other descriptions of ware, called cauliflower ware, mellon ware, &c.
1883 L. M. E. Solon Art of Old Eng. Potter 101 The pieces upon which this fruit was introduced all went by the name of melon-ware, and so were styled also the generality of pieces mottled green and yellow.
1974 G. Savage & H. Newman Illustr. Dict. Ceramics 190 Melon ware, covered bowls and tureens naturalistically modelled and painted in imitation of a melon.
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1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 734/2 Melon-wood, a yellow Mexican wood, which resembles Sander's wood, used for furniture.
melonworm n. the greenish caterpillar of an American pyralid moth, Diaphania hyalinata, which is harmful to melons, pumpkins, and related plants.
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1890 Cent. Dict. Melon-worm, same as melon-caterpillar.
1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses xiv. 298 The pickle worm (Diaphania nitidalis) and the melon worm (D. hyalinata) are both destructive to cantaloupe, melon, squash, and cucumber plants.
1962 C. L. Metcalf et al. Destructive & Useful Insects (ed. 4) 638 The melonworm..feeds much more extensively on the foliage than does the pickleworm.
1993 R. H. Arnett Amer. Insects 568/1 D. hyalinata..(Melonworm)... Larvae feed on various melons.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† melonn.2
Medicine. Obsolete. rare.
1. A particularly prominent staphyloma.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > protrusion
staphyloma1598
melon1676
proptosis1676
melon1797
hyperkeratosis1841
exophthalmus1872
1676 J. Cooke Mellificium Chirurg. (ed. 3) 713 If the extuberance be..great, 'tis called Staphyloma... If it thrust out more, that it over-reaches the Eye-lid, 'tis called Melon, like an Apple hanging by the Stalk.
1768 tr. L. Heister Gen. Syst. Surg. (ed. 8) I. 446 There are various Species..of the Staphyloma..of all which the biggest is the Mylon.
2. Protrusion of the eyeball.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > protrusion
staphyloma1598
melon1676
proptosis1676
melon1797
hyperkeratosis1841
exophthalmus1872
1797 W. Turton Med. Gloss. 439 Melon..a protuberance of the ball of the eye from its socket.
1891 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Melon,..a minor degree of exophthalmus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
melonn.3
/ˈmɛlən/, U.S. /ˈmɛlən/, Australian English /ˈmelən/ Australian.
A kind of small wallaby; = pademelon n. Frequently in melon-hole n. a hole or depression in the ground, popularly supposed to be dug by a pademelon (also called gilgai).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > other types of
banded kangaroo1836
hare-kangaroo1841
melon1847
nail-tailed wallaby1859
tammar1926
quokka1928
nail-tail wallaby1965
1847 F. W. L. Leichhardt Jrnl. Overland Exped. Austral. i. 9 The soil of the Bricklow scrub is a stiff clay, washed out by the rains into shallow holes, well known by the squatters under the name of melon-holes.
1847 F. W. L. Leichhardt Jrnl. Overland Exped. Austral. iii. 77 The shallow depressions of the surface of the ground, which are significantly termed by the squatters ‘Melon-holes’.
1881 A. C. Grant Bush-life in Queensland I. 220 The plain is full of deep melon-holes.
1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 290/1 Melon, besides its botanical use, the word is applied in Australia to a small kangaroo, the Paddy-melon.
1929 H. MacQuarrie We & Baby 75 Melon-hole country—great caverns in the clay surface disguised and hidden by tall grass, where horses broke their legs.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. 214 The name [paddymelon] is often abbreviated to melon, this making its appearance in the derivative melon hole, a shallow hole..which the wallaby is alleged to make.
1984 H. W. Davis Bachelors in Bush 12 The area to be fallen for the season..would embrace a few acres of ‘melon hole’ country.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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