peanut

American  

[pee-nuht, -nuht] / ˈpiˌnʌt, -nət /

noun

peanuts plural

1. the pod or the enclosed edible seed of the plant, Arachis hypogaea, of the legume family: the pod is forced underground in growing, where it ripens.

2. the plant itself.

3. any small or insignificant person or thing.

4. peanuts,

   1. Informal. a very small amount of money.

      working for peanuts.

   2. Slang. barbiturates.

   3. small pieces of Styrofoam used as a packing material.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the peanut or peanuts.

2. made with or from peanuts.

3. Informal. small, insignificant, or petty.

peanut British  

/ ˈpiːˌnʌt /

noun

1. See also peanuts

   1. a leguminous plant, Arachis hypogaea, of tropical America: widely cultivated for its edible seeds. The seed pods are forced underground where they ripen See also hog peanut

   2. Also called: goober.   goober pea.   groundnut.   monkey nut.  the edible nutlike seed of this plant, used for food and as a source of oil

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• peanutty
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• peanuts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of peanut

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800; pea ¹ + nut

Explanation

A peanut is a plant that grows pods containing seeds that are also known as peanuts. You may think of peanuts as nuts, but they're actually legumes. Despite the deceptive name peanut, this plant is more closely related to peas than it is to almonds and hazelnuts. Peanuts are an important food crop around the world, in the form of oil, flour, peanut butter, and roasted, whole peanuts. Peanuts were originally called "ground nuts," and despite their popularity, they're also known for being inexpensive — thus peanuts also informally means "a very small amount of money."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peanut peanuts

It’s deliciously nutty and salty, courtesy of the peanut butter, and slightly bitter and acidic, thanks to the dark chocolate.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

She’s like an Auntie Mame, only her version of extravagance is peanut butter sundaes at Serendipity 3, a course at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and tickets to see Diana Rigg on Broadway in “Medea.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Hostess donuts and cupcakes, it turned out, are surprisingly unlike Smucker jams, peanut butter and coffee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

It will not change your weight on a bathroom scale or alter how manufacturers measure ingredients like peanut butter for a 16-ounce jar.

From Science Daily ● May 18, 2026

Then when it became apparent Ob and I were probably going to rely on peanut butter to pull us through, he finally got the notion to go on home.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant

Put this all together and farmers — mainly large-scale row-crop producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice and peanuts — are already set to receive roughly $55 billion from the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Its holding is worth about $115 million at the current stock price — peanuts for a company that collects revenue of about $5 billion a year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Serve your Dino Kung Pao over a bed of warm jasmine rice and top with roasted peanuts and chopped green onions.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

That would sting, since bond prices and yields move inversely, but it would be peanuts compared with the 4.25% rate hike in 2022.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

My father used to surprise us with small gifts, perhaps a piece of paper from the factory, or a pen, or a coin for each of us to spend on a pack of peanuts.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

Related Words

• groundnut