Ca-shew', n.

noun

(ka-shōo') (Synop., § 130), n. [A corruption of acajou, the French orthography of the native Brazilian name, acajaiba.] (Bot.) A tree of the West Indies and South America (Anacardium occidentale), of the same family with the sumac or Rhus. The fruit is about the size of an orange, and contains an acrid juice, of which a pleasant wine is made. At the apex of this fruit or apple, grows a large, flattened, kidney-shaped nut, having a hard shell, between which and the shell of the kernel is a caustic oil. The kernel, when fresh, is used as an article of food, and is said to be delicious in taste. The caustic oil around the kernel makes an enduring iron-rust color on cloth, and hence the nut is sometimes called the marking-nut. London.

A botanical illustration of a cashew plant showing its leaves, flowers, and fruit. — Cashew Leaf and Fruit.