pa·pa·ya n.
1. Bot. A tree (Carica Papaya) of tropical America, belonging to the order Passifloreæ; called also papaw and pawpaw. It has a soft, spongy stem, eighteen or twenty feet high, crowned with a tuft of large, long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The milky juice of the plant is said to have the property of making meat tender.
2. The fruit of the papaya tree; it is a dull orange-colored, melon-shaped fruit, which is eaten both raw and cooked or pickled. The fruit contains papain, a protease.
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Pa·pa·in n. Physiol. Chem. A proteolytic ferment, like trypsin, present in the juice of the green fruit of the papaw (Carica Papaya) of tropical America.
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Carica papaya
n : tropical American shrub or small tree having huge deeply
palmately cleft leaves and large oblong yellow fruit
[syn: papaya, papaia, pawpaw, papaya tree, melon
tree]