coconut

Sometimes co·coa·nut

[koh-kuh-nuht, -nuht]

noun

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.

coconut

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of coconut¹

First recorded in 1605–15; coco + nut

Word History and Origins

Origin of coconut¹

C18: see _coco

Example Sentences

The exemptions covered other Ghanaian agricultural products including cashew nuts, avocados, bananas, mangoes, plantain, pineapples, coconuts, ginger and peppers, he said.

Read more on Barron's

“Chocolate cake, vanilla cake, carrot cake, sponge cake, coconut cake, marble cake, pineapple cake, mousse cake, nougat cake, cheesecake, pound cake, and Black Forest cake,” Miss Mortimer explained.

Read more on Literature

The Hawaiian shirts fairly scream to be put on, the sunscreen smells appealingly like coconut—and yet you spend the day in bed, glued to the hotel television.

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Vita Coco, which makes coconut water and other products, has said that its imported coconut water has been hit with a blended tariff rate of about 23%.

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Wash it down with a creamy coconut shake or a sweet Malaysian white coffee and you’ll be as addicted to Malaysian food as I am.

Read more on Salon

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