tapioca

[ tap-ee-oh-kuh ]
See synonyms for tapioca on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a food substance prepared from cassava in granular, flake, pellet (pearl tapioca ), or flour form, used in puddings, as a thickener, etc.

Origin of tapioca

1
1605–15; <Portuguese <Tupi tipioca literally, juice (of cassava) squeezed out, i.e., pulp after squeezing

Words Nearby tapioca

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tapioca in a sentence

  • Enid, whose turn it was to bring up the plates of tapioca, pleaded guilty to a slight sensation of nervousness.

    The Pillar of Light | Louis Tracy
  • For the apple tapioca here given, the apples should be somewhat sour, as there will then be more character to the dessert.

    Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4 | Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

British Dictionary definitions for tapioca

tapioca

/ (ˌtæpɪˈəʊkə) /


noun
  1. a beadlike starch obtained from cassava root, used in cooking as a thickening agent, esp in puddings

Origin of tapioca

1
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