sponge gourd; luffa plant
Refers to the plant Luffa aegyptiaca, also known as Egyptian cucumber or Vietnamese luffa. The fruit is used as a vegetable when young and as a sponge when mature.
I'm growing sponge gourds in the garden.
loofah; bath sponge
The dried fibrous interior of the mature gourd, used as a scrubbing sponge in the bath.
It feels good to wash your body with a loofah.
worthless thing; insignificant thing
Used in idiomatic expressions like へちまもない (utterly worthless) or へちまもあるものか (it's nothing at all). Not used as a standalone noun for 'worthless thing' in modern Japanese.
What he says is completely worthless.
angled luffa; ridged gourd; Chinese okra
Usually written in kana. The kanji forms 糸瓜 and 天糸瓜 are rare.
Katakana spelling is also common, especially in botanical or product contexts.
Rare kanji form; the reading へちま is a jukujikun.
Rarely used kanji form.
The word へちま is of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Portuguese word 'bucha' (sponge) or from a native Japanese term. The kanji 糸瓜 (literally 'thread melon') is a jukujikun reading.