coconut

American  

[koh-kuh-nuht, -nuht] / ˈkoʊ kəˌnʌt, -nət /

Sometimes cocoanut

noun

• coconuts
  plural

1. the large, hard-shelled seed of the coconut palm, lined with a white edible meat, and containing a milky liquid.

2. the meat of the coconut, often shredded and used in cooking, as a flavoring, and as a dessert topping.

3. coconut palm.

4. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a person of color, especially a person of Latin American or South Asian origin or descent, who is regarded as having adopted the attitudes, values, and behavior thought to be characteristic of middle-class white society, at the expense of their ethnic heritage.

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coconut British  

/ ˈkəʊkəˌnʌt /

noun

1. the fruit of the coconut palm, consisting of a thick fibrous oval husk inside which is a thin hard shell enclosing edible white meat. The hollow centre is filled with a milky fluid ( coconut milk )

2. 1. the meat of the coconut, often shredded and used in cakes, curries, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      coconut cake

3. slang a black or Asian person who conforms to white culture at the expense of his or her ancestral culture, the idea being that, like a coconut, he or she is dark on the outside and white on the inside

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• coconuts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of coconut

First recorded in 1605–15; coco + nut

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Explanation

A coconut is a large, nut-like fruit that grows high in trees. Coconuts have very hard shells and sweet, white flesh inside. The white, flaked coconut you can buy in a bag at the grocery store is a processed form of the coconut fruit. Coconuts are large brown balls that must be cut or sawed open — inside the shell is the coconut meat, and clear coconut water. To use coconut for baking, it has to first be grated and, often, sweetened. The word comes from coco, "grinning face," in Portuguese, which may refer to the three face-like holes in a coconut shell.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coconut coconuts

Beloved for its mildly sweet, nutty flavour and velvety texture, it later evolved into a party food, consumed as a jam or stewed with sticky rice balls in coconut milk.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Kirban said that ocean freight rates are also affecting the company, since it imports millions of liters of coconut water a year from its factories abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

The only ones I tend to avoid are neutral vegetable oil, which can make the whole thing feel a little filmy, and coconut oil, unless that is a flavor you specifically want to chase.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

They’ve surpassed $2 billion in sales for Starbucks, as they’ve launched an ever-sprawling genre of refresher varieties: water-based, lemonade-based, coconut milk–based, chili-dusted, frozen and blended.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Or a monkey clutching a coconut as it swung from branch to branch?

From "Rickshaw Girl" by Mitali Perkins

As with whey protein, the beverage space has faced shortages over the past year, particularly when it comes to coconuts.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

He waded through lagoon waters with saltwater crocodiles, landing on a white sand beach, carrying a sack of coconuts as a sign of goodwill.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

Almost all food—except for fish, coconuts and some root vegetables—must be imported.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

She added: "There's debris everywhere - palm trees, coconuts, branches, all over the place. The big palm trees with all the roots are up. That's how strong the winds have been."

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2025

What if you put the coconuts in a sort of bag?

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

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