pawpaw

plural pawpaws · alternative papaw · alternative paw-paw

1. Any of several types of trees having edible fruit
   1. Any member of the genus Asimina of trees and shrubs native to eastern North America, especially common pawpaw (Asimina triloba).

      If there were such a thing as an anticapitalist fruit, the pawpaw, commonly foraged in the wild and inherently resistant to commodification, might qualify.

      2023 September 29, Molly Fitzpatrick, “He’s the Pawpaw King of Brooklyn. (What’s a Pawpaw?)”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

      1 more example

      Throughout the years it's gone by a lot of names—frost banana, Indiana banana, fetid-bush, bandango, custard apple, prairie banana, poor man's banana—but most of the time it's just been called pawpaw. At first glance, both the fruit and the tree seem out of place in North America.

      [2015, Andrew Moore, Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit, Chelsea Green Publishing, →ISBN, page 1

      Synonyms: custard apple, prairie banana, hillbilly mango

   2. AustraliaPapaya (Carica papaya), a widely cultivated tropical fruit tree.

      Synonyms: papaya

   3. Mountain pawpaw (Vasconcellea pubescens), a fruit tree native to South America.

      Xavier sliced the pawpaw in half, emptying the tiny black seeds over the veranda wall.

      2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 254

      Synonyms: mountain pawpaw, mountain papaya

2. The fruit itself of such trees.

plural pawpaws · alternative papaw · alternative pappaw · alternative papaw · alternative paw-paw

1. colloquialdialectalGrandfather.

   Synonyms: peepaw, pepaw

plural Pawpaws

1. Alternative letter-case form of pawpaw (“grandfather”).

   She had enjoyed a happy childhood, but her one consistent ambition was to join her Pawpaw's law firm.

   2000, John R. Campbell, Dry Rot in the Ivory Tower: A Case for Fumigation, Ventilation, and Renewal of the Academic Sanctuary

   1 more example

   Finding Adam playing with his favorite toy truck on the floor beside her prostrate father. Adam had looked up and scampered to her. "Pawpaw's takin' a nap," he'd said. But Talia had known from her father's odd posture that he wasn't napping.

   2008, Sandra Marton, Sarah Mayberry, Emilie Rose, Hot City Nights, Harlequin, →ISBN