Squash vs. Zucchini: What's the Difference?
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Zucchini
The zucchini (, American English) or courgette (, British English) is a summer squash which can reach nearly 1 metre (100 cm; 39 in) in length, but is usually harvested when still immature at about 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 in). A zucchini is a thin-skinned cultivar of what in Britain and Ireland is referred to as a marrow. In South Africa, a zucchini is known as a baby marrow.
Along with certain other squashes and pumpkins, the zucchini belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. It can be dark or light green. A related hybrid, the golden zucchini, is a deep yellow or orange color.In a culinary context, the zucchini is treated as a vegetable; it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, zucchinis are fruits, a type of botanical berry called a “pepo”, being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower.
The zucchini, like all squash, has its ancestry in the Americas. However, the varieties of squash typically called “zucchini” were developed in northern Italy in the second half of the 19th century, many generations after the introduction of cucurbits from the Americas in the early 16th century.
Squash (noun)
A sport played in a walled court with a soft rubber ball and bats like tennis racquets.
Squash (noun)
A soft drink made from a fruit-based concentrate diluted with water.
“When I’m thirsty I drink squash; it tastes much nicer than plain water.”
Squash (noun)
A place or a situation where people have limited space to move.
“It’s a bit of a squash in this small room.”
Squash (noun)
Something soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of peas.
Squash (noun)
Something unripe or soft.
Squash (noun)
A sudden fall of a heavy, soft body; also, a shock of soft bodies.
Squash (noun)
An extremely one-sided, usually short, match.
Squash (noun)
A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind.
Squash (noun)
Cucurbita maxima, including hubbard squash, great winter squash, buttercup squash, and some varieties of pumpkins.
Squash (noun)
(syn. ver=161009), cushaw squash.
Squash (noun)
Cucurbita moschata, butternut squash, Barbary squash, China squash.
Squash (noun)
Any other similar-looking plant of other genera.
Squash (noun)
Cucurbita pepo, most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash, zucchini.
Squash (noun)
The edible or decorative fruit of these plants, or this fruit prepared as a dish.
“We ate squash and green beans.”
Squash (noun)
Muskrat.
Squash (verb)
To beat or press into pulp or a flat mass; to crush.
Squash (verb)
To compress or restrict (oneself) into a small space; to squeeze.
“Somehow, she squashed all her books into her backpack, which was now too heavy to carry.”
“We all managed to squash into Mum’s tiny car.”
Squash (verb)
To suppress; to force into submission.
Zucchini (noun)
A courgette; a variety of squash, Cucurbita pepo, which bears edible fruit.
Zucchini (noun)
The edible fruit of this variety of squash.
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