Quick and easy answer is that fruits propogate via seeds and vegetables do not... so if it has seeds, then it's a fruit, if no seeds, then it's a veggie. This is why tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits.

A fruit is a plant ovary/womb. The fruit of a plant contain the seeds of a plant. Vegetables are essentially everything else: seeds (peas and beans), stems (asparagus), leaves (lettuce and, spinach), flowers (broccoli and cauliflower), and roots (carrots and potatoes). Nuts are tree seeds. Peanuts are a variety of beans. Peas and beans are vegetables. Peas in the pod are fruit. String beans, the green bean pod and the beans inside, are fruit. Tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and squash are fruit. Some fruit, however, does not contain real seeds. Few varieties of bananas contain seeds. Strawberries have the seeds on the outside.

Generally you can safely call the product of a fertilization a "fruit". (We routinely, in the supermarket, call the structure bearing fruits "fruit"). Generally fruits will germinate into plants which will again flower, offering another opportunity for fertilization. (Note that bananas we find in the store bear tiny almost-remnants of seeds which will not germinate...in the wild, banana "fruits" have seeds (fruits, being the products of fertilization) which are much larger which will germinate). If one discusses a part of a plant which is not the direct product of a fertilization nor the structure bearing it, then one could safely call the item an herb. For example, basil leaves are vegetative structures not specifically the result of a fertilization and are most easily described as herbs. I do not have an adequate definition for 'vegetable', but my feeling for its routine meaning is any part of a plant consumed whether a stem (celery), a leaf (lettuce), a root or tuber (radish, or potato, respectively), and in some cases the fruit of fertilization or structures bearing them (cucumbers, yes-tomatoes). Add to this such items as mushrooms (basidiocarps of fungi) and you get the idea....the term vegetable has come to mean most anything which is not animal or mineral which we find in the 'produce' section of the supermarket. Thus, the term vegetable has somewhat lost a botanical usefulness in that there are more specific terms to use depending on the particular structure being discussed. Note that there are specific botanical definitions for berries which can be found in any good plant classification text; you can see this is essential, for example, in distinguishing between raspberries, blueberries, and tomatoes (also berries). (posted from another site)

The difference between a fruit and a vegetable is that a seed of a fruit must be eaten so the stomach acids disinegrate the wax coating of the seed. Otherwise a fruit can not grow. A vegetable has seeds. Some people say that there are no seeds in vegetables. There is but they are very small and look like the rest of the vegetable. A vegetables seed does not have this wax coating and does not have to be eaten to grow. That's why fruit are sweet and vegetables are not.

I don't know about a technical difference, but there is a botanical difference which has been oft-cited already here. I think there is a very big difference in the taste of fruits vs. veggies. Most fruits are sweet, tart or thirst-quenching, whereas vegetables have strong, bland or earthy tastes, and most people, especially children, have to acquire a taste for them, or end up hating them. Both fruits and vegetables are good for your health, since they contain antioxidents and vitamins galore. It is purported that a diet rich in the nutrients that fruits and vegetables provide can ward off many deadly diseases.

Technically, johnnygoode maybe correct in stating that cucumbers, squash and green beans are fruits. I might also add tomatoes to that list. However, since the don't fit the criteria of what's commonly thought of as fruit, they are considered vegetables and usually grouped as such. Actually, I think the botanical distinction between fruits and vegetables is that fruits contain seeds, and vegetables do not. Therefore one might say cucumbers, squash, green beans and tomatoes are fruits, regardless of their taste. I'm really not too sure about green beans though. The rudimentary "beans" that are found inside of them are not really seeds, are they?

I think(though it might sound silly) the distinction between the two is the fact that veggies are used mainly in the main course of a meal. A fruit is used mainly in the dessert. This is why cucumbers and tomatoes are considered veggies, because they usually are used in the main course, not the dessert. Can you think of a time when you've had a vegitable for dessert, or a fruit for dinner?

I'll say the TASTE

Source: http://science.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/food-nutrition/what-difference-between-fruit-vegetable The technical definition of a fruit is the (often fleshy) part of a plant that surrounds the seeds. By this definition, tomatoes, apples, pumpkins, eggplants, squashes, rose hips, peppers, peapods, cucumbers, and corn kernels are all fruits. All other edible plant parts are considered vegetables. Lettuce, carrots, and spinach are examples of vegetables. The popular definitions of fruit and vegetable are somewhat different from the technical definitions. Most people categorize "vegetables" as foods that are eaten as part of a meal's main course and "fruits" as foods that are eaten for dessert or as a snack. Sources: Hillman, Howard. Kitchen Science, Rev. ed., p. 130; McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking, pp. 124-26.

From http://ask.yahoo.com/20010411.html : "Dear Yahoo!: What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? Bill Lexington, Kentucky Dear Bill: We started by scanning Yahoo!'s Fruits and Vegetables categories. We uncovered a number of interesting web sites, but realized the answer would be more easily found with a specific search. We typed "difference between fruit and vegetable" into the Yahoo! search box and quickly discovered some relevant web pages. Ask Dr. Dictionary, a feature of Dictionary.com, provides a succinct explanation: A fruit is actually the sweet, ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant. A vegetable, in contrast, is an herbaceous plant cultivated for an edible part (seeds, roots, stems, leaves, bulbs, tubers, or nonsweet fruits). So, to be really nitpicky, a fruit could be a vegetable, but a vegetable could not be a fruit. The Nutriquest team offers a similar answer, adding that most fruits are sweet because they contain a simple sugar called fructose, while most vegetables are less sweet because they have much less fructose. The sweetness of fruit encourages animals to eat it and thereby spread the seeds. The site also presents an interesting list of fruits that are often thought to be vegetables: * tomatoes * cucumbers * squashes and zucchini * avocados * green, red, and yellow peppers * peapods * pumpkins But hey, what about the nut? Well, according to our friends at The Straight Dope, a nut is actually a "a dry, one-seeded, usually oily fruit." Potato potahto, tomato tomahto, let's call the whole thing off."

I fruit contains seeds, a vegetable does not. A fruit is the plant's intended means of reproduction, meant to be eaten by animals so that the seeds contained therin can be planted in a location further away from the original plant, the animal's droppings. A vegetable is any another part of the plant (Root, Stem, Flower, etc.) harvested for food.

A vegetable is the edible root, stem, or leaf of a plant. A fruit is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant. Based on this, there are a number of things that are often called vegetables that are actually fruits. For example, tomatoes, bell and chili peppers, cucumbers, squashes and gourds, and green beens are all fruits. Rhubarb, which is often used in pies, is a vegetable.

Vegetable is a culinary term and fruit is both a culinary and a botanical term. Therein lies the confusion; a fruit can be a sweet product of pollination like an apple or a peach, or it can be a dill seed or a pumpkin. This is a common question and usually arises because of the case in the USA back in the early part of the last century when these were excise taxes (I believe) placed on one or the other (I forget the details); the tomato farmers in the locale were disadvantaged by this tax and wanted their product declared a fruit to offset the disadvantage. Because the tomato is botanically a fruit, they won their case. I will try to find more details. --- Okay, it turns out that I misremembered the case - I was very young at the time - it was in 1893. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden

a fruit has seeds

a fruit has a seed

Fruit have seed vegetable don't . All of the fruit is from a flowering plant ( are may be something like that ) some don't banana and pineapple ( maybe ? ) Vegetable like salad is the leaves, potato stem etc ... Some are usually call vegetable : tomato , cucumber , pumpkin , pepper , ... by tax and cooking.

fruits are the ripened ovaries of a plant that can be eaten as raw bt vegetables are always eaten after cooking. also, fruits are mostly perennial plants while vegetables are annuals. fruits are consumed when fully ripened(naturally or artificially) while vegetables are eaten unripe.

A fruit grows on plants whereas a vegetable is the plant.

I actually wrote an article about this: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2332726/the_difference_between_a_fruit_and.html?cat=22 You should read it :) But generally speaking, the difference between a fruit and a vegetable is that fruits are a plants ovaries and used to carry seeds while vegetables are not.