sweet potato
- a plant, Ipomoea batatas, of the morning glory family, grown for its sweet, edible, tuberous roots.
- the root itself, used as a vegetable.
- Informal. ocarina.
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Origin of sweet potato
An Americanism dating back to 1740–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sweet potato
Historical Examples
Papa found a little bug this morning on the sweet-potato vines.
I ricollec' it was sweet-potato pie, an' it was scorched on one side.
Moriah's Mourning and Other Half-Hour SketchesRuth McEnery Stuart
It was all I could do to make out an order for asparagus and sweet-potato plants.
Dwellers in ArcadyAlbert Bigelow Paine
Then he put a sweet-potato in a glass jar half filled with water.
The Sweet-potato, Yam, and Artichoke are all of the same character.
The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and CookingHelen Campbell
sweet potato
- a convolvulaceous twining plant, Ipomoea batatas, of tropical America, cultivated in the tropics for its edible fleshy yellow root
- the root of this plant
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Also called (NZ): kumara
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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