chestnut

noun

1. 1

   An edible nut (technically a fruit) of the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a nut from a related shrub or tree; or a similar nut from an unrelated plant.

   Of trouth the cheſtain trees brynge forth the ſoft ſwete cheſtnutte out of the ſharpe pricking ⁊ hard huſke.

   I am not he Camilla that will leaue the Roſe, bicauſe I pricked my finger, or forſake the golde that lyeth in the hot fire, for that I burne my hande, or refuſe the ſweet Cheſnut, for that it is couered with ſharpe huſkes.

   So vvhen tvvo Boards, in vvild Ytene bred, / Or on VVeſtphalia’s fatt’ning Cheſt-nuts fed, / Gnaſh their ſharp Tusks, and rous’d vvith equal Fire, / Diſpute the Reign of ſome luxurious Mire; / In the black Flood they vvallovv o’er and o’er, / ’Till their arm’d Javvs diſtill vvith Foam and Gore.

   Cheſnuts are good in Female VVeakneſſes, and afford a very good Nouriſhment.

2. 2

   In full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea.

   The Cheſnut delighteth in ſhadowie places and mountaynes whoſe ſituation is towardes the North.

   The next is the Cheſs-nut [Caſtanea] of vvhich Pliny [the Elder] reckons many kinds, eſpecially that about Tarentum and Naples, but vve commend thoſe of Portugal. […] [M]ay Copſes of Cheſs-nuts be vvonderfully increaſed and thickn'd by laying the tender and young branches; but ſuch as ſpring from the Nuts and Marrons are beſt of all, […]

   Theſe cheſnuts ranged in correſponding lines, / And though himſelf ſo poliſh'd, ſtill reprieves / The obſolete prolixity of ſhade.

   The midnight Moon ascends! Her placid beams, / […] / Here, o’er the chesnut’s fretted foliage grey / And massy, motionless they spread; […]

3. 3

   In full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea. Wood of a chestnut tree.

4. 4

   Things resembling a chestnut fruit in appearance or colour. A dark, reddish-brown colour, like that of chestnut fruit (noun sense 1).

   Roſ[alind]. I'faith his haire is of a good colour. / Cel[ia]. An excellent colour: / Your Cheſſnut vvas euer the onely colour: […]

   She can see, by the colour of my beard, that my hair would be a fine chesnut still.

5. 5

   Things resembling a chestnut fruit in appearance or colour. A horse with a reddish-brown coat, mane and tail.

   [T]he noble Vice-President of the Club, Lord Carington […] led the way with his chestnuts, having a distinguished brother whip, Lord Londesborough, by his side.

   Chestnut horses are fidgetty and hot, but seem to have less sense than bay horses, while bay horses, though they are cleverer, are the worst tempered and the most irritable—that is, browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.

   At Launceston he found Mrs. Tregonnel's landau waiting for him, with a pair of powerful chestnuts, and a couple of servants, whose neat brown liveries had nothing of that unsophisticated semi-savagery which Mr. Hamleigh had expected in a place so remote.

6. 6

   Things resembling a chestnut fruit in appearance or colour. An oval or round horny plate located on the inner side of the leg of a horse or other equines, which is thought by some people to correspond with the thumbnail of other animals.

7. 7

   figurativeChiefly in old chestnut: a joke, meme, phrase, ploy, etc. which has been repeated so often as to have grown ineffective or tiresome; a cliché.

   UNIQUE II Break My Stride […] Yep, this is a dance-leaning cover of the Matthew Wilder '80s pop chestnut. It has already saturated radio airwaves throughout Europe, with a number of programmers here already giving it positive feedback.

   Take greed. He [Donald Trump]'s been cited many times for what now has become a chestnut: "The point is, you can't be too greedy."

8. 8

   Variant of horse chestnutIn full chestnut tree: the shrub or tree that bears this nut, the Spanish chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa); also (chiefly preceded by a descriptive word), a shrub or tree of the genus Castanea. Short for horse chestnut (“any of several tree species of the genus Aesculus, especially Aesculus hippocastanum; the fruit of such a tree”).

   And those three chestnuts near, that hung / In masses thick with milky cones.

adjective

1. 1

   Of a deep reddish-brown colour, like that of a chestnut fruit (noun sense 1).

   chestnut hair

   […] Aill, from mountains freed, / Down from the lakes did raving come; / Each wave was crested with tawny foam, / Like the mane of a chesnut steed.

   Hortense, with her rich chestnut locks so luxuriantly knotted, plaited, twisted, as if she did not know how to dispose of all their abundance, with her vermillion lips, damask cheek, and roguish laughing eye.

Forms

plural

chestnuts