POTATO (potatoes)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: potatoes   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does potato mean? 

• POTATO (noun)
  The noun POTATO has 2 senses:

1. an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland

2. annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous

  Familiarity information: POTATO used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POTATO (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

Irish potato; murphy; potato; spud; tater; white potato

Hypernyms ("potato" is a kind of...):

starches (foodstuff rich in natural starch (especially potatoes, rice, bread))

solanaceous vegetable (any of several fruits of plants of the family Solanaceae; especially of the genera Solanum, Capsicum, and Lycopersicon)

root vegetable (any of various fleshy edible underground roots or tubers)

Meronyms (parts of "potato"):

jacket (the outer skin of a potato)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "potato"):

baked potato (potato that has been cooked by baking it in an oven)

chips; french-fried potatoes; french fries; fries (strips of potato fried in deep fat)

home-fried potatoes; home fries (sliced pieces of potato fried in a pan until brown and crisp)

mashed potato (potato that has been peeled and boiled and then mashed)

Uruguay potato (similar to the common potato)

Holonyms ("potato" is a part of...):

potato; Solanum tuberosum; white potato; white potato vine (annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

potato; Solanum tuberosum; white potato; white potato vine

Hypernyms ("potato" is a kind of...):

vine (a plant with a weak stem that derives support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface)

Meronyms (parts of "potato"):

Irish potato; murphy; potato; spud; tater; white potato (an edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland)

Holonyms ("potato" is a member of...):

genus Solanum; Solanum (type genus of the Solanaceae: nightshade; potato; eggplant; bittersweet)

 Context examples 

He afterwards took another chop, and another potato; and after that, another chop and another potato.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The last purchase from the fruit store had been a sack of potatoes, and for a week he had potatoes, and nothing but potatoes, three times a day.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A yellow, red, or orange substance found mostly in plants, including carrots, sweet potatoes, dark green leafy vegetables, and many fruits, grains, and oils.

(Carotenoid, NCI Dictionary)

You do with him as you would with a sack of potatoes or a bale of hay.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

As you search for your new position, verify your references before you hand over a list—you must be certain there are no bad potatoes on that list.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I found the mess to consist of indifferent potatoes and strange shreds of rusty meat, mixed and cooked together.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California have found potassium-rich vegetables like sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach, beans and bananas could help lower blood pressure.

(Study: Fruits and Vegetables Can Lower Blood Pressure, VOA)

They also used different plasters on some walls, and smeared the surfaces with buttermilk or potato starch solutions to trigger moss and mould to grow.

(Smoother walls healthier for lungs, SciDev.Net)

The potatoes had to be hurried, not to keep the asparagus waiting, and were not done at the last.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The study found that 76% fewer purchases of sugary confectionary, chocolate and potato crisps were bought and eaten ‘on-the-go’ from supermarkets with checkout food policies compared to those without.

(Removing sweets and crisps from supermarket checkouts linked to dramatic fall in unhealthy snack purchases, University of Cambridge)