tuber

¹ American  

[too-ber, tyoo-] / ˈtu bər, ˈtyu- /

noun

1. Botany. a fleshy, usually oblong or rounded thickening or outgrowth, as the potato, of a subterranean stem or shoot, bearing minute scalelike leaves with buds or eyes in their axils from which new plants may arise.

2. Anatomy. a rounded swelling or protuberance; a tuberosity; a tubercle.

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tuber ² American  

[too-ber, tyoo-] / ˈtu bər, ˈtyu- /

noun

1. a person or thing that forms, installs, or operates with tubes.

2. Also called inner-tuber.  a person who participates in the sport of tubing.

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tuber British  

/ ˈtjuːbə /

noun

1. a fleshy underground stem (as in the potato) or root (as in the dahlia) that is an organ of vegetative reproduction and food storage

2. anatomy a raised area; swelling

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tuber Scientific  

/ to̅o̅′bər /

1. The thickened part of an underground stem of a plant, such as the potato, bearing buds from which new plant shoots arise.

2. Compare bulb corm rhizome runner

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Other Word Forms

• tuberless
  adjective
• tuberoid
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of tuber¹

1660–70; < Latin tūber bump, swelling. Cf. truffle

Origin of tuber²

First recorded in 1920–25; tube + -er ¹

Explanation

A tuber is a plant that mainly grows underground. Potatoes and yams are tubers — and they're delicious with a little butter and salt. The part of a potato plant that can be eaten is its thickened underground stem — and officially, that's the part of the plant considered a tuber. Potatoes are a stem tuber, while sweet potatoes are root tubers. There are slight differences in the way these different types of tubers grow new plants, but they're all basically edible roots. In Latin the word tuber means "edible root," but also "lump, bump, or swelling."

Example Sentences

The duo from North Carolina that records as Magic Tuber Stringband connects Appalachian tradition to Minimalism, meditation and perhaps post-rock, carrying forward the ideas of musicians like John Fahey and Sandy Bull.

From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2024

Jason Tuber, Menendez’s chief of staff, said in an email that the “people of New Jersey will determine who their Senator will be.”

From Seattle Times • Dec. 17, 2023

Despite boxing returning to business as usual in late 1918, several boxers succumbed to the virus, including heavyweight Jim Johnson, Terry Martin, Matty Baldwin, Jim Stewart, Samuel Ranzino, Joe Stein, Al Thomas, and Joe Tuber.

From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2020

They invoke a no less fervent passion among fanatical fungus foragers here than does the Tuber magnatum.

From Slate • Apr. 8, 2016

Tirant then learned that King Escariano had taken the King of Tremicen's daughter to the very strong castle of Mont Tuber.

From The White Knight: Tirant Lo Blanc by Rudder, Robert S.