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

Etymology

Origin of coconut

First recorded in 1605–15; coco + nut

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

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

"Instead of soil, we pack these containers with a specialized coco-peat substrate derived entirely from coconut husk. We then integrate a highly precise drip-irrigation and fogging system to control micro-climates."

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

At the back of Arevalo's cart -- decorated all over with colorful menu pictures of chicken wings and coconut juice -- is an inverter that holds up to six, foot-long batteries.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

"More research is needed to confirm our findings and to investigate if other refined sugar alternatives, such as applesauce, honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar, may be effective alternatives."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026

Each one of them that I could see was holding a coconut in his paws.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

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

Richards and fellow guitarist Ronnie Wood were apparently trying to scramble towards the coconuts when he lost his grip and tumbled 15 feet to the ground, hitting his head.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

The list of tariff exemptions published Friday also covers other produce such as avocados, coconuts and pineapples.

From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025

They split ripe coconuts open, broke the thick white meat into chunks that we children grated when we weren’t munching.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

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