: a pungent yellow condiment consisting of the pulverized seeds of various mustard plants (such as Sinapis alba, Brassica juncea, and B. nigra) either dry or made into a paste or sauce (as by mixing with water or vinegar) and sometimes adulterated with other substances (such as turmeric) or mixed with spices
b
: the seed of a mustard plant used as a spice and in medicine as a stimulant and diuretic, an emetic, or a counterirritant
: any of several herbs (genera Brassica and Sinapis of the family Brassicaceae synonym Cruciferae, the mustard family) with lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and linear beaked pods
Recent Examples on the WebThe Mystery of the Mustard Family An archaeological dig turned up eight bottles of mustard powder in one eighteenth-century homestead.—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024 Here’s what’s on the Skyline Chili breakfast menu: Breakfast Coney: Sausage link, Skyline Chili, egg, mustard, diced onions and shredded cheddar cheese in a steamed bun.—Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 23 June 2024 The pork melts into the bun, and the pickles and spicy mustard bring tangy, sharp relief.—New York Times, 18 June 2024 The Creole Tartar Sauce includes relish, herbs, spices, and a little Creole mustard.—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 31 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for mustard
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mustard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French mustarde, from must must, from Latin mustum
: a pungent yellow condiment consisting of the pulverized seeds of the black mustard or sometimes the white mustard either dry or made into a paste and serving as a stimulant and diuretic or in large doses as an emetic and as a counterirritant when applied to the skin as a poultice
2
: any of several herbs (genus Brassica of the family Cruciferae, the mustard family) with lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and linear beaked pods see black mustardsense 1, white mustard
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