tapioca

[tap-ee-oh-kuh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tapioca ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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. 2019

Related Words for tapioca

junket, custard, dessert, mousse

Examples from the Web for tapioca

Contemporary Examples of tapioca

Quite a few of these loafs use potato starch and tapioca starch in attempts to produce a lighter, fluffier product.
How to Buy Gluten-Free Without Getting Duped
DailyBurn
April 12, 2014

Historical Examples of tapioca

When it boils, sprinkle in the tapioca; stir, and boil for about fifteen minutes.
The Skilful Cook
Mary 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.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
Go to sleep, Juggins, old man, the tapioca has gone to your head.
In Court and Kampong
Hugh Clifford
The staff had mutton hash and spinach, with tapioca pudding for dessert.
Dear Enemy
Jean Webster
This substance is tapioca, so largely used in puddings at home.
A Voyage round the World
W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for tapioca

tapioca

noun

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

Word Origin for tapioca

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

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).