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Celery

/ˈsɛləri/

nounA2

Definition

Celery is a plant used as food. It has long, green, crunchy stalks that you can eat raw or cooked. People often use celery in salads, soups, or as a healthy snack.

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⚡ See It in Action

The green vegetable with crunchy stalks and leaves

  • •I like to eat celery with peanut butter as a snack.
  • •The soup recipe calls for chopped celery and onions.
  • •Celery adds a fresh crunch to salads.

🧲 Make It Stick

  • ✓Think of "celery" like "carrot" (A1 word), but celery is green and has long, hollow sticks instead of orange solid roots.
  • ✓Picture a bunch of green sticks that snap when you bend them, with a fresh, slightly salty taste.
  • ✓It's the feeling of eating a fresh, crunchy snack that is light and good for health.
  • ✓Sounds like "SELL-uh-ree" → imagine selling fresh green sticks at a market.
  • ✓Imagine a rabbit eating crunchy green sticks in a garden—celery is like that fresh, crunchy snack.
  • ✓NOT like "lettuce" (soft and leafy), celery is firm and crunchy.
  • ✓NOT like "cucumber" (round and watery), celery is more stringy and fibrous.
  • ✓NOT like "spinach" (soft leaves), celery has hard stalks you can hold.
  • ✓NOT like "carrot" (root underground), celery grows above ground with tall stalks.

🔄 Try Other Words

  • •Celery stalks: the long parts of celery (Use when you want to be more specific about the part you eat)
  • •Green vegetable: any vegetable that is green (Use when you want to speak generally about color and type)
  • •Crudité: raw vegetables served as snacks (Use in formal or food contexts when celery is part of raw vegetable platters)

🔍 Unboxing

  • •Word parts: "celery" is a single word without prefixes or suffixes
  • •Etymology: From Old French "céleri," from Latin "selinum," from Greek "selinon," meaning parsley-like plant
  • •Historical development: The word came into English in the 17th century, naming the plant used for food and flavoring
  • •Modern usage: Used mainly for the crunchy vegetable eaten raw or cooked, common in many cuisines worldwide

💭 Reflect & Connect

•How do you like to eat celery—raw, cooked, or in salads? Why?
•Can you think of other vegetables that are similar to celery in texture or taste?

Fill in the blanks with the correct word:

1.Celery is often eaten raw because it is ___ and ___.
2.When making soup, adding chopped celery gives the dish more ___ and ___.
3.Unlike lettuce, celery has ___ stalks that you can hold and snap.
4.People sometimes eat celery with peanut butter as a ___ snack.
5.Celery is a ___ vegetable because it grows above ground and has green stalks.
6.If you want a crunchy vegetable for a salad, you might choose celery ___ carrots.
7.Celery ___ fresh and salty, which makes it a popular healthy snack.