GINGER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ginger mean? 

• GINGER (noun)
  The noun GINGER has 4 senses:

1. perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems

2. dried ground gingerroot

3. pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery

4. liveliness and energy

  Familiarity information: GINGER used as a noun is uncommon.

• GINGER (adjective)
  The adjective GINGER has 1 sense:

1. (used especially of hair or fur) having a bright orange-brown color

  Familiarity information: GINGER used as an adjective is very rare.

• GINGER (verb)
  The verb GINGER has 1 sense:

1. add ginger to in order to add flavor

  Familiarity information: GINGER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GINGER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("ginger" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Meronyms (substance of "ginger"):

gingerol (derived from ginger; source of the hotness of ginger)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ginger"):

Canton ginger; common ginger; stem ginger; Zingiber officinale (tropical Asian plant widely cultivated for its pungent root; source of gingerroot and powdered ginger)

Alpinia galanga; galangal (southeastern Asian perennial with aromatic roots)

Alpinia officinalis; Alpinia officinarum; lesser galangal (Chinese perennial with pyramidal racemes of white flowers and pungent aromatic roots used medicinally and as flavoring)

Alpinia purpurata; red ginger (an ornamental ginger native to Pacific islands)

Alpinia speciosa; Alpinia Zerumbet; Languas speciosa; shall-flower; shell ginger; shellflower (cultivated for its shining oblong leaves and arching clusters of white flowers with pink shading and crinkled yellow lips with variegated magenta stripes)

Holonyms ("ginger" is a member of...):

genus Zingiber; Zingiber (tropical Asiatic and Polynesian perennial plants: ginger)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dried ground gingerroot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

ginger; powdered ginger

Hypernyms ("ginger" is a kind of...):

spice (any of a variety of pungent aromatic vegetable substances used for flavoring food)

Meronyms (substance of "ginger"):

ginger; gingerroot (pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery)

Derivation:

ginger (add ginger to in order to add flavor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

ginger; gingerroot

Hypernyms ("ginger" is a kind of...):

flavorer; flavoring; flavourer; flavouring; seasoner; seasoning (something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts)

Holonyms ("ginger" is a part of...):

Canton ginger; common ginger; stem ginger; Zingiber officinale (tropical Asian plant widely cultivated for its pungent root; source of gingerroot and powdered ginger)

Holonyms ("ginger" is a substance of...):

ginger; powdered ginger (dried ground gingerroot)

ginger ale; ginger pop (ginger-flavored carbonated drink)

Derivation:

ginger (add ginger to in order to add flavor)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Liveliness and energy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

ginger; pep; peppiness

Context example:

this tonic is guaranteed to give you more pep

Hypernyms ("ginger" is a kind of...):

life; liveliness; spirit; sprightliness (animation and energy in action or expression)

• GINGER (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used especially of hair or fur) having a bright orange-brown color

Synonyms:

ginger; gingery

Context example:

a ginger kitten

Similar:

colored; colorful; coloured (having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination)

• GINGER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they ginger    ... he / she / it gingers   
Past simple: gingered   
Past participle: gingered   
-ing form: gingering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Add ginger to in order to add flavor

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

ginger the soup

Hypernyms (to "ginger" is one way to...):

spice; spice up; zest (add herbs or spices to)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

ginger (pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery)

ginger (dried ground gingerroot)

 Context examples 

Ginger extract contains a number of different phenolic compounds, some of which have displayed antineoplastic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities.

(Ginger Extract, NCI Thesaurus)

A characteristic of a medicinal product, specifying that its most predominant agreeable savor detected by the unified sensation of taste and olfactory receptors resembles ginger, the rhizome of the perennial plant Zingiber officinale.

(Ginger Flavor, NCI Thesaurus)

Ginger oil has been used for digestive health.

(Ginger Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The gingeroles and shoagoles found in ginger may be responsible for ginger's anti-emetic effect.

(Ginger, NCI Thesaurus)

An East Indian plant that is a member of the ginger family and is used as a spice and food color.

(Curcuma longa, NCI Dictionary)

The search for plant-derived phytochemicals that could prevent corrosion has led to such successful candidates as date palm seed extract and ginger root extract.

(Mango leaf extract can stop ships from rusting, SciDev.Net)

Miss Mills had sailed, and Dora and I had gone aboard a great East Indiaman at Gravesend to see her; and we had had preserved ginger, and guava, and other delicacies of that sort for lunch; and we had left Miss Mills weeping on a camp-stool on the quarter-deck, with a large new diary under her arm, in which the original reflections awakened by the contemplation of Ocean were to be recorded under lock and key.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Whenever he encountered a chance shipmate, and there were many in San Francisco, he treated them and was treated in turn, as of old, but he ordered for himself root beer or ginger ale and good-naturedly endured their chaffing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Ginger is mainly used in cooking due to its unique fragrance and flavor and has been studied for its use in the treatment of nausea and vomiting.

(Ginger, NCI Thesaurus)

Sometimes, to make it a more sovereign specific, he was so kind as to squeeze orange juice into it, or to stir it up with ginger, or dissolve a peppermint drop in it; and although I cannot assert that the flavour was improved by these experiments, or that it was exactly the compound one would have chosen for a stomachic, the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning, I drank it gratefully and was very sensible of his attention.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)