potato

American  

[puh-tey-toh, -tuh] / pəˈteɪ toʊ, -tə /

noun

plural

potatoes

1. Also called white potato.  Also called Irish potato,.  the edible tuber of a cultivated plant, Solanum tuberosum, of the nightshade family.

2. the plant itself.

3. sweet potato.

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potato British  

/ pəˈteɪtəʊ /

noun

1. Also called: Irish potato.   white potato. 

   1. a solanaceous plant, Solanum tuberosum, of South America: widely cultivated for its edible tubers

   2. the starchy oval tuber of this plant, which has a brown or red skin and is cooked and eaten as a vegetable

2. any of various similar plants, esp the sweet potato

3. slang a delicate or awkward matter

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potato Idioms  

1. see hot potato; meat and potatoes; small beer (potatoes).

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Usage

Plural word for potato The plural form of potato is potatoes. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -o are also formed this way, including tomato/tomatoes and echo/echoes. In some cases, the plurals of words that end in -o that are adopted from another language can be formed by adding either -es or -s, as in mosquito/mosquitoes/mosquitos or mango/mangoes/mangos. However, this is not the case with potato/potatoes. Potatos is an invalid spelling of the plural of potato.

Etymology

Origin of potato

First recorded in 1545–55; from Spanish patata “potato,” variant of batata “sweet potato,” from Taíno

Example Sentences

The worst was when spinach juice got onto mashed potatoes and turned them green.

From Literature

Dr. Thatcher dived for one of the cats, missed, and landed face first in the mashed potatoes.

From Literature

"I just pop it in my mouth like a potato chip," she said, adding that it feels like a "healthier alternative".

From BBC

After all the indignities of the day, it was the mention of fried potatoes that threatened to undo him.

From Literature

We went with a ribeye, paired with macaroni and cheese, Brussels sprouts, and another standout: creamy mashed potatoes.

From Salon

Related Words

• yam