honeydew

Meanings

1. A sweet, sticky substance deposited on leaves and other plant parts by insects (especially aphids and scale insects) feeding on plant sap, or by fungi.
2. A sweet liquid substance resembling the substance mentioned in sense 1, such as honey, nectar, or manna in the Bible.
3. A blackish mould (often called sooty mould) produced by fungi of the order Dothideales, feeding on the substance mentioned in sense 1.
4. In full honeydew tobacco: a fine sort of tobacco moistened with a sweet substance (originally molasses).
5. Ellipsis of honeydew melon (“a melon from the Cucumis melo Inodorus cultivar group, with sweet, light green or white flesh and a smooth greenish-white or yellow rind”).
6. A light green colour, like the flesh of some honeydew melons.
7. Something that is enjoyable or pleasant.

1. Of a light green colour, like the flesh of some honeydew melons.

Etymology

The noun is derived from honey + dew, originally believed to be a form of dew that fell from the sky like rain onto plants (see sense 1). The adjective is derived from the noun.