Definition of "rutabaga" [rutabaga]

• A European plant (Brassica napus var. napobrassica) having a thick bulbous root used as food and as livestock feed. (noun)
• The edible root of this plant. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I have read that the rutabaga is a scottish turnip, though it is certainly found elsewhere, and found in the same places as ordinary turnips."
• "I would, however, just like to make the additional point that the flesh of the rutabaga is a lovely pale orange color; it is pretty on the inside."
• "I think a rutabaga is what, in England, we called a swede - yellowish, large root vegetable - good mashed with lots of butter."