sweet potato

noun

1. a plant, Ipomoea batatas, of the morning glory family, grown for its sweet, edible, tuberous roots.

2. the root itself, used as a vegetable.

3. Informal.,  ocarina.

sweet potato

noun

1. a convolvulaceous twining plant, Ipomoea batatas, of tropical America, cultivated in the tropics for its edible fleshy yellow root

2. the root of this plant

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweet potato¹

An Americanism dating back to 1740–50

Example Sentences

Foods high in potassium—sweet potatoes, salmon, spinach, avocados, bananas—are also healthy.

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My steak was cooked perfectly and complemented by the numerous sides, which include hen of the woods mushrooms, Japanese sweet potato and hand-cut black truffle fries.

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Don’t be shy about shape or size — shoestring, steak-cut, crinkle, waffle, sweet potato — I’ll even give a pass to tater tots for the sake of this exercise.

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Anything that will be used across multiple recipes — onions, peppers, garlic, carrots, herbs, sweet potatoes, celery — gets chopped, batched, and set aside all at once.

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“She noticed that a lot of locals were always asking her for ingredients like sweet potatoes and taro, so she started selling fruits and expanded to vegetables,” said Derek Luu, Tran’s son.

Read more on Los Angeles Times