tapioca
[tap-ee-oh-kuh]
- a food substance prepared from cassava in granular, flake, pellet (pearl tapioca), or flour form, used in puddings, as a thickener, etc.
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Origin of tapioca
1605–15; < Portuguese < Tupi tipioca literally, juice (of cassava) squeezed out, i.e., pulp after squeezing
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tapioca
Contemporary Examples
Quite a few of these loafs use potato starch and tapioca starch in attempts to produce a lighter, fluffier product.
Historical Examples
When it boils, sprinkle in the tapioca; stir, and boil for about fifteen minutes.
The Skilful CookMary Harrison
Wash two good spoonfuls of the large sort of tapioca in cold water, and then soak it in a pint and a half of water for four hours.
Go to sleep, Juggins, old man, the tapioca has gone to your head.
In Court and KampongHugh Clifford
The staff had mutton hash and spinach, with tapioca pudding for dessert.
Dear EnemyJean Webster
This substance is tapioca, so largely used in puddings at home.
A Voyage round the WorldW.H.G. Kingston
tapioca
- a beadlike starch obtained from cassava root, used in cooking as a thickening agent, esp in puddings
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Word Origin
C18: via Portuguese from Tupi tipioca pressed-out juice, from tipi residue + ok to squeeze out
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for tapioca
n.
1640s, from Portuguese or Spanish tapioca, from Tupi (Brazil) tipioca, from tipi "residue, dregs" + og, ok "to squeeze out" (from roots of the cassava plant).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper