Definition of "fiddlehead" [fid•dle•head]

• Nautical A curved, scroll-like ornamentation at the top of a ship's bow that resembles the neck of a violin. (noun)
• Botany The coiled young frond of any of various ferns, some of which are considered a delicacy when cooked. Also called crosier. (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.

• "In early spring, they start to rise from the ground, in small, tightly curled formations that resemble the shape of a snail shell -- or as it's name fiddlehead suggests, the spiral end of a fiddle."
• "But that's probably also because it runs a lot of sites: Gilt Home, Gilt Man, Gilt City, Jetsetter for travel and Gilt Taste, which as of last check was selling whole Dungeness crabs, gluten-free carrot cake cookies, fiddlehead ferns and finger limes."
• "Also in its startling repertoire are foraged wild mushrooms, a beefsteak tomato carved tableside, fiddlehead ferns, acid-tinged calamondin oranges today called calamansi, and those now ubiquitous but then obscure cherry tomatoes and snow peas."