You searched for: “olives
olive (s) (noun), olives (pl)
1. An evergreen tree of the Mediterranean; Olea europaea of the family Oleaceae: The olive tree is short and squat, has silvery green leaves which have an oblong form, and the trunk of the olive tree is gnarled and twisted.
2. The fruit of the olive tree: Olives yield oil, a fixed oil that consists chiefly of olein and palmitin.

The olives from the tree are used as a nutritive food. In medicine they are used as a laxative, as an emolient external application to wounds or burns, and as an ingredient of liniments and ointments.
3. An ovoid device small enough to fit on the tip of a vein stripper: An olive prevents damaging the vein as the stripper is pushed into it.

This entry is located in the following units: oleo-, ole-, -oleic, ol- (page 3) olive- + (page 1)