Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CASH'EW, n. [A corruption of Acajou, the French orthography of the native name.]

A tree of the West Indies, Anacardium occidentale, bearing a kidney-shaped nut. The receptacle is as large as an orange, and full of an acid juice, which is often used to make punch. To the apex of this receptacle grows a nut, of the size of a hare's kidney, the shell of which is hard, and the kernel, which is sweet, is covered with a thin film. – Encyc.