Papaw1. (n.) A tree (Carica Papaya) of tropical America, belonging to the order Passifloreae. It has a soft, spongy stem, eighteen or twenty feet high, crowned with a tuft of large, long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The milky juice of the plant is said to have the property of making meat tender. Also, its dull orange-colored, melon-shaped fruit, which is eaten both raw and cooked or pickled.
2. (n.) A tree of the genus Asimina (A. triloba), growing in the western and southern parts of the United States, and producing a sweet edible fruit; also, the fruit itself.
Thesaurus Entries
Catawba, Persian melon, Valencia orange, acorn, akee, alligator pear, ananas, apple, apricot, avocado, banana, bearberry, bilberry, bird seed, blackberry, cacao, candleberry, canistel, cantaloupe, capulin, casaba, checkerberry, cherimoya, cherry, citrange, citron, citrus, citrus fruit, civet fruit, crab apple, cranberry, currant, custard apple, damson, date, dewberry, elderberry, feijoa, fig, flaxseed, fruit, gooseberry, grain, grape, grapefruit, guanabana, guava, hayseed, honeydew, huckleberry, icaco, ilama, imbu, jaboticaba, jackfruit, jujube, kernel, kumquat, lemon, lime, lingonberry, linseed, litchi, loganberry, loquat, mammee apple, mandarin orange, mango, mangosteen, manzanilla, marang, mayapple, medlar, melon, mulberry, muscadine, muscat, muscatel, muskmelon, navel orange, nectarine, nut, nutmeg melon, olive, orange, papaw, papaya, passion fruit, peach, pear, persimmon, pineapple, pip, pippin, pit, plantain, plum, plumcot, pomegranate, prune, quince, raisin, rambutan, raspberry, red currant, seed, stone, strawberry, sugar apple, sugarplum, sweetsop, tangelo, tangerine, ugli fruit