1. [n]  edible seeds or roots or stems or leaves or bulbs or tubers or nonsweet fruits of any of numerous herbaceous plant
2. [n]  any of various herbaceous plants cultivated for an edible part such as the fruit or the root of the beet or the leaf of spinach or the seeds of bean plants or the flower buds of broccoli or cauliflower
3. [adj]  of the nature of or characteristic of or derived from plants; "decaying vegetable matter"

Vegetable
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1. \Veg`e*ta*ble\, a. [F. v['e]g['e]table growing,
   capable of growing, formerly also, as a noun, a vegetable,
   from L. vegetabilis enlivening, from vegetare to enliven,
   invigorate, quicken, vegetus enlivened, vigorous, active,
   vegere to quicken, arouse, to be lively, akin to vigere to be
   lively, to thrive, vigil watchful, awake, and probably to E.
   wake, v. See {Vigil}, {Wake}, v.]
   1. Of or pertaining to plants; having the nature of, or
      produced by, plants; as, a vegetable nature; vegetable
      growths, juices, etc.
            Blooming ambrosial fruit Of vegetable gold.
                                                  --Milton.
   2. Consisting of, or comprising, plants; as, the vegetable
      kingdom.
   {Vegetable alkali} (Chem.), an alkaloid.
   {Vegetable brimstone}. (Bot.) See {Vegetable sulphur}, below.
   {Vegetable butter} (Bot.), a name of several kinds of
      concrete vegetable oil; as that produced by the Indian
      butter tree, the African shea tree, and the {Pentadesma
      butyracea}, a tree of the order {Guttifer[ae]}, also
      African. Still another kind is pressed from the seeds of
      cocoa ({Theobroma}).
   {Vegetable flannel}, a textile material, manufactured in
      Germany from pine-needle wool, a down or fiber obtained
      from the leaves of the {Pinus sylvestris}.
   {Vegetable ivory}. See {Ivory nut}, under {Ivory}.
   {Vegetable jelly}. See {Pectin}.
   {Vegetable kingdom}. (Nat. Hist.) See the last Phrase, below.
   {Vegetable leather}.
      (a) (Bot.) A shrubby West Indian spurge ({Euphorbia
          punicea}), with leathery foliage and crimson bracts.
      (b) See {Vegetable leather}, under {Leather}.
   {Vegetable marrow} (Bot.), an egg-shaped gourd, commonly
      eight to ten inches long. It is noted for the very tender
      quality of its flesh, and is a favorite culinary vegetable
      in England. It has been said to be of Persian origin, but
      is now thought to have been derived from a form of the
      American pumpkin.
   {Vegetable oyster} (Bot.), the oyster plant. See under
      {Oyster}.
   {Vegetable parchment}, papyrine.
   {Vegetable sheep} (Bot.), a white woolly plant ({Raoulia
      eximia}) of New Zealand, which grows in the form of large
      fleecy cushions on the mountains.
   {Vegetable silk}, a cottonlike, fibrous material obtained
      from the coating of the seeds of a Brazilian tree
      ({Chorisia speciosa}). It us used for various purposes, as
      for stuffing, and the like, but is incapable of being spun
      on account of a want of cohesion among the fibers.
   {Vegetable sponge}. See 1st {Loof}.
   {Vegetable sulphur}, the fine highly inflammable spores of
      the club moss ({Lycopodium clavatum}); witch.
   {Vegetable tallow}, a substance resembling tallow, obtained
      from various plants; as, {Chinese vegetable tallow},
      obtained from the seeds of the tallow tree. {Indian
      vegetable tallow} is a name sometimes given to piney
      tallow.
   {Vegetable wax}, a waxy excretion on the leaves or fruits of
      certain plants, as the bayberry.
   {Vegetable kingdom} (Nat. Hist.), that primary division of
      living things which includes all plants. The classes of
      the vegetable kingdom have been grouped differently by
      various botanists. The following is one of the best of the
      many arrangements of the principal subdivisions.
   

2. \Veg"e*ta*ble\, n.
   1. (Biol.) A plant. See {Plant}.
   2. A plant used or cultivated for food for man or domestic
      animals, as the cabbage, turnip, potato, bean, dandelion,
      etc.; also, the edible part of such a plant, as prepared
      for market or the table.
   Note: Vegetables and fruits are sometimes loosely
         distinguished by the usual need of cooking the former
         for the use of man, while the latter may be eaten raw;
         but the distinction often fails, as in the case of
         quinces, barberries, and other fruits, and lettuce,
         celery, and other vegetables. Tomatoes if cooked are
         vegetables, if eaten raw are fruits.