​CALABASH (from the Span. calabaza, a gourd or pumpkin, possibly derived from the Pers. kharlunza, a melon), the shell of a gourd or pumpkin made into a vessel for holding liquids; also a vessel of similar shape made of other materials. It is the name of a tree (Crescentia Cujete) of tropical America, whose gourd-like fruit is so hard that vessels made of it can be used over a fire many times before being burned.