coconut
[koh-kuh-nuht, -nuh t]
- the large, hard-shelled seed of the coconut palm, lined with a white edible meat, and containing a milky liquid.
- the meat of the coconut, often shredded and used in cooking, as a flavoring, and as a dessert topping.
- coconut palm.
- 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 his or her ethnic heritage.Compare Oreo.
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Sometimes co·coa·nut.
Origin of coconut
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for coconut
Contemporary Examples
Sports drinks and coconut water, which is lower in sugar, can also redeem electrolytes lost while drinking, says White.
His cannabis-infused menus range from truffle tuna casserole and coconut chicken to French toast and omelets.
Unlike sports beverages, coconut water is low in carbohydrates, while still rich in potassium.
I lasted about five minutes and then, BAM, the coconut oil ended up in my garbage.
I popped a teaspoon of coconut oil (purchased at Trader Joe's) into my mouth and took very deep breaths through my nose.
Historical Examples
Coconut for this purpose may be secured in a number of forms.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Beat, and when it begins to get thick, add the nuts and coconut.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
And then all about were the coconut trees, as fanciful as women, and as vain.
The Trembling of a LeafWilliam Somerset Maugham
The itching is relieved by an action similar to that of shredding a coconut.
A Dictionary of Cebuano VisayanJohn U. Wolff
This was a supply that would provide 4,000 tons of coconut shells every day.
America's Munitions 1917-1918Benedict Crowell
coconut
cocoanut
- 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)
- the meat of the coconut, often shredded and used in cakes, curries, etc
- (as modifier)coconut cake
- slang, derogatory 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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Word Origin
C18: see coco
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for coconut
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper