Chick"-pea` (?), n. [See Chich.]
1. Bot.
A Small leguminous plant (Cicer arietinum) of Asia, Africa, and the sounth of Europe; the chick; the dwarf pea; the gram.
2.
Its nutritious seed, used in cookery, and especially, when roasted (parched pulse), as food for travelers in the Eastern deserts.
© Webster 1913.