sweet potato
Americannoun
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a plant, Ipomoea batatas, of the morning glory family, grown for its sweet, edible, tuberous roots.
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the root itself, used as a vegetable.
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Informal. ocarina.
noun
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a convolvulaceous twining plant, Ipomoea batatas, of tropical America, cultivated in the tropics for its edible fleshy yellow root
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the root of this plant
Etymology
Origin of sweet potato
An Americanism dating back to 1740–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Other examples include combinations like purple sweet potato ice cream, cheesecake with carrot compote, or chocolate bars loaded with salty potato chips.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
She’s even preparing her dinners in advance—medium-rare steak and salmon with sweet potato on the side.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Xu, whose mother died when he was a year old, recalled in a speech how he ate only sweet potato and steamed bread in his school years.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
At his Queenstown food truck, more modern, European-influenced offerings include a chicken Hāngī burger, served with a potato spread, grated apple and watercress salad on a sweet potato bun.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
The next day, Christmas Day, in the middle of Christmas dinner, Jorge suffered a heart attack, flipped over in his chair, his mouth full of candied sweet potato, and died.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
