1. A coarse vine widely cultivated for its large pulpy round orange fruit with firm orange skin and numerous seeds; subspecies of Cucurbita pepo include the summer squashes and a few autumn squashes
   "Children carved jack-o'-lanterns from the pumpkins"; "Pumpkin vines sprawled across the garden patch";
   - pumpkin vine, autumn pumpkin, Cucurbita pepo
    
2. Usually large pulpy deep-yellow round fruit of the squash family maturing in late summer or early autumn
   "She carved a jack-o'-lantern from a large pumpkin"; "The chef prepared a creamy pumpkin soup for the fall menu"
    
3. [informal] A term of endearment for someone small and cute
   "Come here, my little pumpkin"

Derived forms: pumpkins

Type of: squash, squash vine, veg [Brit, informal], vegetable, veggie [informal]

Part of: Cucurbita, genus Cucurbita

Encyclopedia: Pumpkin, Powder, Scarlet & Green