Calabash meaning : A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree. The bottle gourd (calabash vine, Lagenaria siceraria), believed to have originated in Africa, which is grown for its fruit that are used as a vegetable and to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this plant. A container made from the mature, dried shell of the fruit of one of the above plants; also, a similarly shaped container made from some other material. A calabash and its contents; as much as fills such a container. A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made from a calabash fruit.